ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Pelvic fracture fixation is one of the most serious and challenging problems orthopedic trauma surgeons face. The field is dominated by straight screws and bone plate implants that have significant limitations and can be prone to failure in curved anatomy. CurvaFix has gained FDA clearance and begun commercialization of the only implant that follows the natural curvature of the pelvis.
It was only after orthopedic trauma surgeon Robert Meek, MD, retired that he had time to address the most complex and vexing problem he and his peers faced: pelvic fracture fixation. The clinical professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine had enjoyed a busy career; in the 1980s, he founded—and headed—the orthopedic trauma divisions at the university and at Vancouver General Hospital. In all his years of practice, the right solution for repairing broken bones in a ring-shaped pelvic anatomy made up of several curved bones never came along.
While straight intramedullary (inside of the bone) fracture fixation implants have evolved since the first widespread usage of intramedullary nails during World War II, when they were used to send soldiers with broken long bones back to battle sooner, no similar innovation has occurred for curved pelvic bones.
