A small Chinese study pitting a pair of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) cervical spine implants against each other found that they deliver similar outcomes but differences in procedure times.
The researchers compared Medtronic’s Bryan and Accel devices in 50 patients undergoing single-segment cervical disk replacement. Twenty-four patients were treated using the Bryan device, with the other cohort receiving the Accel device, according to results published in the journal Orthopedics.
"In the current study, both the group treated with the Bryan cervical disc system and the group treated with the Accel system achieved satisfactory clinical outcomes, including significant pain relief, cervical function improvement, and quality of life amelioration, consistent with the results of previous studies. The 2 implantation systems had the same clinical effectiveness over the 2-year follow-up period," the researchers wrote. "The 2 implantation systems displayed equal clinical effectiveness and safety, but the Accel system appears to have the advantages of shorter operative time and less blood loss."
The Bryan device is approved in the U.S. and China, but the Accel device is still waiting for a green light from the FDA, they wrote.
"The study data indicate that 2 implantation systems for single-segment cervical disk replacement—the Bryan Cervical Disc System and the ACCEL system—have similar clinical effectiveness and safety. The ACCEL system may have a shorter average operative time and less blood loss, but this finding needs to be confirmed by larger studies," according to the study.
