MIS Total Knee: Web Event Will Include Live Surgery, Technical Overview
and Discussion of Wright's Minimal Incision Surgery (MIS) Featuring the
ODYSSEY™ MIS Anterior Rough Cut Surgical Instrumentation for the
ADVANCE® Knee Replacement System
Wright Medical Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: WMGI), a global orthopaedic medical device company, is pleased to sponsor a live webcast covering minimal incision surgery (MIS) for total knee replacement. The live webcast will take place Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. The event will also be archived on this site for twelve months.
The webcast will include a surgical demonstration of a minimally invasive technique using Wright's ODYSSEY™ Anterior Rough Cut instrumentation for the ADVANCE® Total Knee System. The live surgery will be performed by Michael Anderson, M.D. of the Blount Orthopaedic Clinic, Ltd., who is the primary design surgeon for Wright's ODYSSEY™ Anterior Rough Cut instrumentation. The procedure will be conducted at the Columbia campus of Columbia St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Moderating the live surgery will be Robert Schmidt, M.D. at the Texas Hip and Knee Center in Fort Worth, Texas. An interactive question and answer session will also be featured for participants of the live web event.
Through this webcast, Wright will provide surgeon and patient participants a complete overview of the ADVANCE® Medial-Pivot Knee System, which more closely replicates the natural kinematics of a normal knee, as well as the benefits offered through Wright's ODYSSEY™ minimally invasive surgical approach.
In the United States alone, approximately 560,000 total knee replacement surgeries are performed annually. Minimally invasive techniques for knee replacement surgery were developed in an effort to reduce patients' post-operative pain and shorten their recovery time to weeks, instead of months. Positive responses from both surgeons and patients have led to the development of a number of minimally invasive surgical approaches. Wright's ODYSSEY™ technique offers a superior MIS option due to the simplicity and ease-of-use of its instrument design and incorporation of a "mobile window" that provides excellent intraoperative visibility of the surgical site. Furthermore, surgeons can also achieve reproducible and accurate results using the ODYSSEY™ MIS instrumentation in more traditional, open surgical settings.
"The upcoming webcast will serve as a one-stop resource for surgeons to learn detailed information about all aspects of our ODYSSEY™ MIS anterior rough cut surgical instrumentation for the ADVANCE® Knee System," said Aldo Denti, Vice President of Wright's OrthoRecon Division. "We are extremely pleased to offer interested surgeons such a detailed view of Wright's innovations in total knee arthroplasty."
About Wright
Wright Medical Group, Inc. is a global
orthopaedic medical device company specializing in the design,
manufacture and marketing of reconstructive joint devices and
biologics. The Company has been in business for more than 50 years and
markets its products in over 60 countries worldwide. For more
information about Wright Medical, visit our website at www.wmt.com.
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements made in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, beliefs, estimates, and expectations and express management's current views of future performance, results, and trends. The Company wishes to caution readers that actual results might differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the factors discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 under the heading, "Factors Affecting Future Operating Results," and in its quarterly reports), which could cause the Company's actual results to materially differ from those described in the forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the forward-looking statements are accurate, there can be no assurance that any forward-looking statement will prove to be accurate. A forward-looking statement should not be regarded as a representation by the Company that the results described therein will be achieved. The Company wishes to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement after this date.
