SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zimmer Holdings, Inc. ZMH, a global leader in musculoskeletal health, today announced the availability of personalized surgical cutting guides for partial knee replacement procedures at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in San Francisco, CA.

Partial knee replacement is an option for patients when arthritis affects only one compartment of the knee.  Partial knee replacement procedures potentially offer patients a less invasive surgery, less pain, faster recovery, and a more normal feeling knee.  Each year, more than fifty thousand patients undergo partial, or unicompartmental, knee replacement procedures in the United States, and this number is expected to grow.

Building on the success of Zimmer® Patient Specific Instruments for the NexGen® Complete Knee and the Gender Solutions® Natural-Knee® replacement systems, Patient Specific Instruments (PSI) are now available for use with the Zimmer® Unicompartmental High Flex Knee System.

"Zimmer Patient Specific Instruments have been used to provide thousands of total knee replacement patients with a personalized surgical plan and procedure," said Jeff McCaulley, President, Zimmer Reconstructive.  "The technology is designed to ensure accurate placement of the knee implant for an optimal fit, feel and function.  PSI also helps streamline the surgical procedure by eliminating numerous steps in the conventional knee replacement process, potentially reducing surgery time and increasing operating room efficiency.  We are excited to now make this technology available for partial knee replacement procedures."  

Zimmer Patient Specific Instruments utilize MRI technology and pre-operative planning tools to create personalized guides that are tailored to each patient's unique anatomy.  Surgeons can obtain pre-operative views of a patient's knee to construct a personalized surgical plan, including identifying the precise position and angle of numerous bone cuts.  Personalized guides for knee replacement surgery support surgeons in performing accurate and safe procedures. 

For more information about Zimmer Patient Specific Instruments technology, visit the company at Booth 519 at the 2012 American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting in San Francisco, or go to www.zimmer.com. 

About Zimmer
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Zimmer designs, develops, manufactures and markets orthopaedic reconstructive, spinal and trauma devices, dental implants, and related surgical products.  Zimmer has operations in more than 25 countries around the world and sells products in more than 100 countries.  Zimmer's 2011 sales were approximately $4.5 billion.  The Company is supported by the efforts of more than 8,500 employees worldwide.  For more information about Zimmer, visit www.zimmer.com.

Zimmer Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the orthopaedics industry, management's beliefs and assumptions made by management.  Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as "may," "will," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "assumes," "guides," "targets," "forecasts," and "seeks" or the negative of such terms or other variations on such terms or comparable terminology.  These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially.  For a list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see our periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be set forth in our periodic reports.  Readers of this document are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since, while we believe the assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate.  This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward-looking statements contained in this document.

SOURCE Zimmer Holdings, Inc.