Medtronic 2009 Annual Report Download - page 20

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 20 of the 2009 Medtronic annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 106

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106

Speed Recovery
PRESTIGE Cervical Disc
A Brighter Road Ahead
Two developments convinced Leslie Holland
to finally address the neck pain that had
plagued her for 20 years. One, she could no
longer handle her usual long-distance bike
rides through the Missouri countryside.
Two, she knew artificial cervical (neck)
discs were now available. “I work in the
operating room during spinal surgeries, so
I know more than the average patient,”
she said. “Until recently, the only option I
was given for my herniated disc was fusion
surgery, but I didn’t want to lose that much
mobility in my neck. So I waited until
Medtronic’s PRESTIGE disc became
available.” Leslie is glad she did. “After the
surgery, the neck pain I had come to think
of as normal was gone. I went back to work
within a week* and did a 25-mile bike ride
within two weeks.** My kids have noticed
another change; they say I seem happier.”
* In the U.S. study, the median return to work for
PRESTIGE patients was 45 days.
** Individual patient results may vary.
The goal with all our medical technologies is to improve a patient’s health,
and do it as quickly as possible. We also need to demonstrate those
positive clinical outcomes via hard data to get our therapies approved
and covered by insurance as fast as possible.
A good example of how this plays out is through our PRESTIGE
Cervical Disc. It’s designed as a potential alternative to traditional spinal
fusion for patients with herniated neck discs. With fusion, one drawback
is that patients lose mobility of the fused vertebrae. PRESTIGE is a stainless
steel disc that replaces the damaged disc. Its unique ball-and-trough
design allows patients to maintain motion of the treated vertebrae.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of PRESTIGE, we conducted the
largest clinical trial of its kind, comparing outcomes using PRESTIGE to
outcomes using fusion surgery. In one measurement of neck pain and
function in daily activities, both treatment groups demonstrated excellent
results at 24 months. However, the PRESTIGE patients in the study had a
median return to work that was 26 percent earlier than patients in the
spinal fusion group.
PRESTIGE was the first artificial disc approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration for use in the cervical spine, in July 2007. Two years
later, 110 million U.S. patients have access to PRESTIGE through their
insurance providers.
16