First-of-its-kind rotator cuff surgery performed in city
Doctors conducted China's first balloon procedure surgery for a female patient suffering from a shoulder injury.
China's first balloon procedure surgery for rotator cuff tears has been completed in Shanghai, with a locally produced permanent shoulder balloon system, the first of its kind in the world.
The Archimedes balloon system, a new treatment option for massive rotator cuff injuries, developed by Shanghai Endophix Co, was successfully implanted into the right shoulder of a 65-year-old female patient at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital.
It marks the world's leading surgical procedure, and the apparatus will now benefit more Chinese people suffering from rotator cuff tear, a common sports injury, especially among the elderly.
The system was developed by the tech company under the medical device maker MicroPort based in Zhangjiang High-Tech Park in the Pudong New Area. It was designed based on the bodily features of Chinese people.
During the procedure, a balloon is placed in the shoulder as a cushion between the ball of the shoulder and the acromion. The balloon is then inflated with saline to keep the ball of the shoulder from bumping into the acromion.
It has become a new treatment option for massive rotator cuff tears that cannot be surgically fixed. More than 60,000 patients have received the procedure, primarily in North America, Europe and Israel.
According to statistics, more than 75 million people suffer from rotator cuff injuries, including a third with massive tears in China. Traditional repair surgery is expensive and requires a large incision in the rotator cuff.
The local patient had been suffering from massive rotator cuff tears with strong pain in the right shoulder for eight years. Normal surgery could hardly fix the injury.
Professor Zhao Jinzhong and his team spent 30 minutes finishing the minimally invasive surgery. The pain was largely gone the next day, and the patient has been receiving postoperative rehabilitation.
The local company has optimized the world's former balloon system by using new materials with better endurance, with balloons that are better adapted to patients' shoulders, according to Endophix.
The product has been under clinical trials at multiple sports medical centers across the country. It is expected to be more widely used and benefit more Chinese patients in the near future, the company said.
"It is not only China's first balloon procedure to cure rotator cuff tears, but also the world's first balloon system that can be implanted permanently," said Glendy Wang, chief operating officer and sports medical business president of MicroPort.
