Orthopedics This Week

Orthopedics This Week OrthopedicsThisWeek is the essential and most widely read publication in Orthopedics. 40x a year, OTW So we think of ourselves as the community paper.

We are the publishers of Orthopedics This Week, the most widely read publication in the Orthopedics industry. Orthopedics is, in our way of thinking, a small town with roughly 250,000 residents. These residents include clinicians, nurses, administrators, staff, suppliers, manufacturers, scientists, sales people, regulators, investors and consultants. We hope that our little paper, which we publish 40 times a year, will illuminate, elevate and educate you.

09/23/2026

John Edwards, MD, neurosurgeon at Summit Brain, Spine and Orthopedics, raises a question: Why should surgeons have to choose between an implant that integrates with bone and one that lets them see it?

PEEK and titanium sit at opposite ends of that familiar tradeoff. Edwards argues that silicon nitride occupies the space between them, with enough radiopacity to delineate the implant and end plate without overwhelming the assessment of bridging bone.

That shifts the question from which compromise is acceptable to whether the compromise is necessary at all.

Watch the full Masterclass: https://orthotw.com/masterclasses/sintx

Top 10 stories this weekNew Shoulder Surgery Data Base Encompassing 20 Years of Data From 25,000 Patients and 45 Clinica...
09/22/2026

Top 10 stories this week

New Shoulder Surgery Data Base Encompassing 20 Years of Data From 25,000 Patients and 45 Clinical Sites Launched
https://bit.ly/4hfReuo

#2 Innovative PNP Tibial Nail for Pediatric Cases Reaches 1,000 Implant Milestone
https://bit.ly/4hFBbHA

#3 FDA Clears Novel Spinopelvic Anchor System, Brand Named Riva®
https://bit.ly/4hfExQk

#4 Outpatient Knee Arthroplasty: 2.1 Million Cases by 2040
https://bit.ly/4hmPWxG

#5 ATEC: The Growth Engine Meets the Cash Register
https://bit.ly/4Ap70vK

#6 Blood Transfusions and Post-op Infection Risk: A troubling Correlation
https://bit.ly/4ji5ohc

#7 The Wrist Fracture That Should Ring an Alarm
https://bit.ly/4AjRL7g

#8 Adjacent Segment Disease: Is the X-Ray Crying Wolf?
https://bit.ly/4ji5oxI

#9 High-Dose GLP-1s and ACDF: Reassuring Numbers, No Proven Fusion Bonus
https://bit.ly/4iJ4IkW

#10 Anika: A Smaller Business Finds Its Financial Footing
https://bit.ly/4ji5o0G

09/18/2026

More metal does not necessarily mean more tissue damage.

David J. Langton, MRCS, PhD, of ExplantLab, argues that implant wear is only half of the equation.

His group developed a genetic reactivity score for cobalt chrome, ranging from relatively resistant patients to those highly reactive to the material. In resurfacing patients with relatively low ion levels and up to 20 years of follow-up, ARMD failure rates increased as genetic reactivity increased.

The implication is straightforward: metal burden alone does not predict tissue damage.

And that raises the larger question behind this 48-minute Masterclass: how much of implant performance are we missing when we compare design, approach, and outcomes -but rarely the material itself?

Thomas J. Webster, PhD, walks through a SINTX-funded preclinical study comparing silicon nitride, titanium, and PEEK in an infected model, reporting differences in bacterial coverage and bone growth.

John Edwards, MD, a neurosurgeon with 15 years of silicon nitride experience, shows what he sees clinically and on imaging, including an MRI that changed the plan for a second surgery.

Watch the full video:
https://orthotw.com/masterclasses/sintx

Sponsored by SINTX. Dr. Webster has received SINTX research funding. Preclinical findings are not cleared indications. Views expressed are those of the speakers.

09/18/2026

Isador Lieberman, MD, orthopedic and spine surgeon at Texas Back Institute and Medical City Frisco Hospital, has spent enough time with carbon fiber spinal implants to know the discussion goes well beyond radiolucency.

Next week on Thursday, September 24 at 6 p.m. Eastern, Dr. Lieberman joins Drs. Mehta, Wu, and Bayley for an OTW Master Class focused on the practical use of carbon fiber implants in spine surgery.

They’ll cover indications, advantages and disadvantages, implant selection, workflow, economics, clinical pearls, and real cases showing where carbon fiber fits -and where it may not.

5 days left to register:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5917846750743/WN_pU4Ryvi5T-uz-UDymiB9zg

Top 10 studies this weekIs the Internal Brace Ready to Stand Alone?https://orthotw.com/2026/09/is-the-internal-brace-rea...
09/17/2026

Top 10 studies this week

Is the Internal Brace Ready to Stand Alone?
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/is-the-internal-brace-ready-to-stand-alone

Open or Closed? For Young Femoral Neck Fractures, the Bigger Problem May Be the Fracture
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/open-or-closed-for-young-femoral-neck-fractures-the-bigger-problem-may-be-the-fracture

Benzoyl Peroxide Before Spine Surgery: An Acne Staple Takes Aim at Implant Infection
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/benzoyl-peroxide-before-spine-surgery-an-acne-staple-takes-aim-at-implant-infection

A Steeper Hill, a Stronger Safety Net: Tibial Slope, LET, and the Young ACL
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/a-steeper-hill-a-stronger-safety-net-tibial-slope-let-and-the-young-acl

Could a Trigger Finger Point Toward Amyloidosis?
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/could-a-trigger-finger-point-toward-amyloidosis

Long Fusion: To Iliac or Not to Iliac?
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/long-fusion-to-iliac-or-not-to-iliac

Spine Surgeons Name Their Biggest Knowledge Gaps Globally
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/spine-surgeons-name-their-biggest-knowledge-gaps-globally

Dynamic Tether Takes on Degenerative Spondylolisthesis
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/dynamic-tether-takes-on-degenerative-spondylolisthesis

350+ Hips Later: 3P Hip System Is Ready for Its Big-League Debut
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/350-hips-later-3p-hip-system-is-ready-for-its-big-league-debut

Could Oral Contraceptives Help Protect an ACL Reconstruction?
https://orthotw.com/2026/09/could-oral-contraceptives-help-protect-an-acl-reconstruction

Pace Surgical Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for the Tempo™ Variable Locking Plating System[Malvern, PA] — September 17, ...
09/17/2026

Pace Surgical Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for the Tempo™ Variable Locking Plating System

[Malvern, PA] — September 17, 2026 — Pace Surgical today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Tempo™ Variable Locking Plating System, a comprehensive internal fixation platform.

The Tempo system combines an anatomically contoured plate family with variable-angle locking technology, allowing surgeons to select screw trajectory intraoperatively while preserving the construct stability of a fixed-angle design. The platform comprises plate configurations and a screw portfolio delivered in a streamlined instrument set built to reduce tray count and simplify reprocessing for hospital and ASC customers.

“Tempo is the next step in bringing our comprehensive fixation platform to market. The pre-contoured plates paired with the variable locking technology gives surgeons the right implant for the right indication. Designed by leading foot and ankle, and trauma surgeons, this platform is built for patients, by their surgeons. “ — Jeff O’Donnell Jr., CEO, Pace Surgical

Pace will exhibit the cleared Tempo system at the 2026 AOFAS Annual Meeting and IFFAS 9th Biennial Meeting, September 16–19 in Seattle, Washington, at booth 1243.

Continue reading: https://orthotw.com/2026/09/pace-surgical-receives-fda-510-k-clearance-for-the-tempo-variable-locking-plating-system

09/16/2026

John Edwards, MD, neurosurgeon at Summit Brain, Spine and Orthopedics, does not view silicon nitride as something to reserve for infections or unusually difficult cases. His interest in the material is much broader, even if hospital contracting has sometimes limited access.

Watch the full Silicon Nitride Masterclass: https://orthotw.com/masterclasses/sintx

Top 10 stories this week5-Steps to Prepare for CMS’s 2027 Insidious Campaign to Cut Orthopedic and Spine Reimbursementht...
09/15/2026

Top 10 stories this week

5-Steps to Prepare for CMS’s 2027 Insidious Campaign to Cut Orthopedic and Spine Reimbursement
https://bit.ly/4iwYKmV

#2 AAOS President: CMS’s 2027 Payment Cuts Could Reshape Orthopedic Care
https://bit.ly/3V7Z4Pj

#3 Medtronic’s Stealth AXiS™ Launched in the European Union
https://bit.ly/46slbCw

#4 FDA Clears innovative Humeral Head implant
https://bit.ly/4xqUj0C

#5 Myfit™, a Tool for Patients to Track the Building of Their Personalized Implant, Launched by restor3d
https://bit.ly/4hsV190

#6 Sites Medical Reaches 350,000 Implant Milestone for its novel bone grafting technology: OSTEOSYNC® Ti
https://bit.ly/4xrw6aE

#7 Innovative intelligent imaging ecosystem, Excelsius3D™, receives CE Mark for commercial launch in European Union
https://bit.ly/3TCckeF

#8 The MACI Biopsy Question: Why Only One in Three Patients Returns for Implantation
https://bit.ly/4xpV2ze

#9 More Metal, Same Problem? Obesity and Earlier Failure After Total Ankle Arthroplasty
https://bit.ly/4h7CJsG

#10 ZBH Announces a Series of Major Executive Promotions
https://bit.ly/3Txp9XC

Red Alert. CMS is cutting reimbursement for orthopedic and spine surgeries. Details are in the fine print.

09/15/2026

A month later, a year later, the toe is still a problem. Now what? Dr. Stephen Soondar on why revision was a design input rather than an afterthought for the ZipToe, and what happens in a space that small when an implant does not want to come out.

Make sure to visit Toetal Solutions at AOFAS booth #1243.

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