New Promising Data on S&N’s
BIRMINGHAM HIP™ System

Link
 http://www.ryortho.com/NEWSSHORTS/volume3/issue39/12-10-07-NS-New.htm

By Elizabeth Hofheinz, MEd, MPH December
10, 2007

No more wondering Down Under. The data
is in. Smith & Nephew, Inc.’s Orthopaedic Reconstruction
business is announcing the release of positive six-year
clinical data by the Australian Orthopaedic Association
National Joint Replacement Registry on the company’s
BIRMINGHAM HIP Resurfacing System (BHR™). According to
the company, the BHR, which has now been implanted in
nearly 80,000 patients in 26 countries, conserves more
of a patient’s bone than a traditional hip replacement,
enabling younger, more active patients to undergo hip
replacement surgery while preserving all future surgery
options, including a primary hip replacement. The design
of the BIRMINGHAM HIP Resurfacing System also offers
patients a reduced risk of dislocation. The report
revealed that the BHR device has the highest hip
resurfacing system survivability rate among all of its
established competitors for which data had been
collected.

Included in the Australian report was the following
information:

Since the inception of the registry, the BIRMINGHAM HIP
Resurfacing System has been the overwhelming choice of
patients—over 75% of resurfacing procedures have used
the BHR device.

The BHR System has a revision rate of 0.8 per 100
component years or 2.5%.

The BHR System’s rate is derived from 19,585 component
years, 19 times that of any other resurfacing
competitor.

Three alternative hip resurfacing systems were cited for
their high revision rates.

According to the registry, hip resurfacing accounts for
7.9% of all primary hip replacements.
Commenting in the news release was Joseph DeVivo,
President of Smith & Nephew Orthopaedic Reconstruction:
“We are extremely pleased with the Registry’s results.
The report once again highlights the ability of the
BIRMINGHAM HIP Resurfacing System to help people
maintain the most active and healthy lifestyle possible.
The BIRMINGHAM HIP Resurfacing System lets active people
live the life they love and continue to pursue their
passions. The long-term clinical data available clearly
demonstrates the benefits of the BIRMINGHAM HIP
Resurfacing System, which is the gold standard for
resurfacing technology in the world and a significant
addition to our reconstructive product portfolio in the
United States.”

The Registry evaluates the timing and reasons for
revision surgery as well as mortality rates, and it
measures the success rates of products and procedures
across Australia. This year’s report is based on the
analysis of 332,700 hip and knee procedures undertaken
in 271,188 patients from September 1999 through December
31, 2006.

According to the company, the study is highly regarded
for its comprehensiveness and accuracy because the
Registry is able to obtain a near-complete set of data
relating to hip and knee joint replacement for an entire
country. The Registry receives information from all
public and private hospitals undertaking joint
replacement. Using a strict validation process and
following retrieval of unreported records and checking
of unmatched data, the initial validation for the 2005/6
Registry data resulted in over 96% of Registry records
verified against health department data.