Colorado Oral & Maxillofacial/Craniofacial/Cosmetic Surgeon Provides Instruction on New Internal Distraction Device
The first week of August was a special week for an 11-year-old girl with a severe facial deformity called hemifacial microsomia. She was treated at the Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, using a new internal distraction osteogenesis device designed to help grow new bone to lengthen her jaw.
Denver, CO (PRWEB) August 16, 2006 -- The first week of August was a special week for an 11-year-old girl with a severe facial deformity called hemifacial microsomia. She was treated at the Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, using a new internal distraction osteogenesis device designed to help grow new bone to lengthen her jaw.
The operation was performed by Dr. Michael Savage, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Science Center, and assisted by Dr. Randy Robinson, founder of Park Meadows Cosmetic Surgery in Lone Tree, Colorado, and inventor of the internal device. This was the first time Dr. Savage had used the new internal device.
The device works below the skin by lengthening the bone after a cut is made in the bone to create a new growth center. The bone is gradually pulled apart so that new soft bone develops and then calcifies. A Russian orthopedic surgeon named Gavriel Ilizarov developed the process, called distraction osteogenesis. It has been used to lengthen legs and arms in patients with deformities, and even to help enhance short stature problems. This device provides an improvement in the marketplace because most devices in existence are external to the skin and present problems with traction, scars and pain. Internal devices are less painful and obvious.
The device is manufactured by AcuNetx (ticker symbol: ANTX) through its OrthoNetx division in Superior, Colorado. Dr. Robinson is the founder of the company and serves on its Board of Directors. OrthoNetx has a full spectrum of internal distraction devices for treating skeletal deformities. The craniofacial device used in the 11-year-old girl can also be used to treat facial deformities such as Treacher-Collins syndrome, Goldenhaar’s syndrome, Pierre Robin syndrome, Crouzon syndrome, and Apert syndrome, and many other bony deformities of the face. Dr. Savage welcomed the opportunity to use this device, and looks forward to using this technique to help other children with facial deformities.
Photographs available.
For more information:
Tammy Garcia
Promotions Director – Patient Care Coordinator
303-706-1100
http://www.ParkMeadowsCosmeticSurgery.com
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