Covidien (NYSE:COV) made a small round of job cuts in association with the medical device company’s acquisition of Newport Medical Instruments.

Earlier this month, the company let go of about 24 employees in its respiratory & monitoring solutions unit, according to a company spokesman. The cuts came mostly from sales and sales support and were aimed at reducing some redundancies connected to rolling Newport’s business into the existing Covidien unit.

Mansfield, Mass.-based Covidien acquired Newport in March in a deal worth $108 million. The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based medical device company makes ventilator systems with products on the market in the U.S. and more than 115 countries worldwide.

Last week the company reported $3.01 billion in sales during its 3rd quarter, a 2.8% bump from the $2.93 billion in sales for the same period last year. The increase was powered by a 9% increase in U.S. sales. However, Net profits sank 15.3% to $453 million, or 93¢ earned per diluted share, compared with $535 million earned, or $1.07 per share, during Q3 of 2011. Adjusted for one-time costs, Covidien’s earnings came to $1.07 per share, beating Wall Street’s expectations by a penny.

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