  Medtronic
Sofamor Danek, the global leader in spine instrumentation,
introduces the new ZEPHIR™ Anterior Cervical Plate System, providing
surgeons with the lowest profile unicortical locking cervical plate
available on the market today. The ZEPHIR™ System utilizes a titanium
alloy plate with a pre-machined lordotic curve, variable angle screws,
and an integral locking cap. The drill guides for the ZEPHIR™
Plate have been specially designed to create 0.6mm of graft compression.
The total thickness of the complete construct, when implanted, is still
only 1.6mm, with a width of 15mm. In spite of having the lowest profile
of any anterior cervical plate system available, the ZEPHIR™ System
has similar fatigue properties to several other plates that are in clinical
use. With a streamlined instrumentation set that has been carefully
designed to maximize the ease of application, the ZEPHIR™ System
meets the goals of plate fixation after anterior cervical surgery with
the least amount of disturbance to the patient's anatomy. Cervical Plates
Over the past twenty years, there has been a significant increase in
the use of cervical plates for single and multi-level anterior cervical
surgery. At the 2000 Cervical Spine Research Society meeting, the members
of this society reported using cervical plates in approximately 92%
of all anterior cervical discectomies and fusions. Cervical plates offer
the advantages of improved initial stability in the post-operative period,
which decreases the need for wearing a cervical collar and results in
a faster return to normal activities. In addition, anterior cervical
plate fixation decreases the complications of graft dislocation and
end plate fracture. Several studies have now demonstrated that there
are substantial cost savings with the use of anterior cervical plates
to the patient and society by decreasing the indirect costs associated
with cervical surgery and allowing the patient to return to work faster.
There is also evidence of significantly decreased rates of late deformity
and kyphotic collapse when an anterior plate supports the reconstructed
cervical spine. Anterior cervical plates are now widely accepted as
a means of improving the rates of spinal fusion in the cervical spine.
Features and Benefits
As surgeons have grown more and more accustomed to using anterior cervical
plates in the majority of their cases, they have asked for plates and
instrumentation sets that have been designed to permit the least amount
of retraction and tissue trauma required for application of the plate.
In response, Medtronic Sofamor Danek has refined the design of the anterior
cervical plate and the instrumentation set in order to facilitate placement
and fixation of the plate with the minimum amount of retraction, while
simultaneously producing a plate that has the lowest possible profile
once it is implanted.
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