James Helgager, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with the Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, California, and Medical Director of Joint Replacement for the Orthopaedic & Spine Institute at Tri-City Medical Center, implanted the first vitamin E Total Knee Replacement in San Diego County.
The E-plus substance, manufactured by Vista-based DJO Surgical, is a polyethylene blended with vitamin E, an anti-oxidant that was created for the 3DKnee. The manufacturers say the addition of the vitamin improves strength, stability and flexion in the implant.
Company officials note that polyethylene wear continues to be a weak point in total knee replacement. They claim that vitamin E improves the material’s tensile strength while preventing polyethylene degenerating oxidation, helping the material hold up to the expectations of today’s active patient. E-plus is the first blended vitamin e polyethylene, meaning that the vitamin E is blended into the resin and is homogeneous throughout the insert component.
The 3DKnee Data Driven Design is based on over a decade of research into total knee kinematics and over 30, 000 have been implanted world-wide, according to company officials. “The cause of Total Knee Replacement failure is polyethylene wear and DJO’s E-plus polyethylene bearing surface is very promising in addressing this issue, ” said Helgager, long-term studies will prove its longevity and performance benefits to the patient.”
