Deltex Medical Regulatory News (DEMG)

24 Jun 2005 07:00

Deltex Medical Group PLC24 June 2005 24 June 2005 Deltex Medical Group plc ('Deltex Medical' / 'Company') Leading doctors group puts CardioQTM at the heart of improving surgical outcomes in the UK NHS Deltex Medical today announces the publication by an independent group of theUK's leading doctors of a pamphlet entitled "Modernising Care for PatientsUndergoing Major Surgery: Improving Patient Outcomes and Increasing ClinicalEfficiency". The pamphlet notes that at least 20,000 NHS patients a year die after surgeryand that many of these die due to out-dated standards of care before, during andafter surgery. Patients having moderate and major surgery in the NHS are threeor four times more likely to die than equivalent patients in other developedcountries. The doctors, who include some of the UK's leading surgeons, anaesthetists andintensive care specialists, advocate a three-step evidence-based solution to theproblems: firstly the implementation of fluid optimisation of patients duringtheir surgery, secondly the provision of the appropriate levels of care in thecrucial post-operative period, and thirdly the introduction of rigorouspre-operative fitness testing to ensure that care plans are tailored to theindividual patient's need. The first step, fluid optimisation (ensuring that the patient has sufficientcirculating blood volume), can be implemented easily and cheaply without anychanges to current care pathways or staffing levels; it means patients leaveoperating theatres in better condition, suffering fewer post-operativecomplications and therefore spend less time in critical care and on the wards.The beds and staff freed up can then be redeployed to provide intermediatelevels of post-operative care. Deltex Medical's CardioQ is the only technologyavailable today which offers surgeons a proven solution in operating theatres tothe near universal problem of hypovolaemia (a shortage of circulating bloodvolume) and the post-operative complications it causes. Deltex Medical's Chief Executive, Andy Hill commented: "Fifteen thousand or more patients are dying unnecessarily in the NHS each yearafter surgery - fifteen times more than die from hospital acquired infectionslike MRSA. Many tens of thousands more patients suffer avoidable complicationsand unnecessarily long and difficult recoveries following their surgery. Fluidoptimisation of moderate and major risk surgical patients alone could more thanhalve the numbers of patients dying. We know that implementing intra-operativefluid optimisation using the Company's CardioQ would save the NHS many hundredsof millions of pounds every year, thereby freeing up the resources to allow theNHS to once more provide world class care to about one million higher riskpatients every year." For further information, please contact:- Deltex Medical Group plc 01243 774 837Nigel Keen, Chairman nigel.keen@deltexmedical.comAndy Hill, Chief Executive andy.hill@deltexmedical.comEwan Phillips, Finance Director ewan.phillips@deltexmedical.com Financial Dynamics 0207 831 3113David Yates david.Yates@fd.comLucy Briggs lucy.briggs@fd.com A conference call for analysts will be held at 9.30am UK time today. Pleasecall Lucy Briggs on 020 7269 7223 for details. Notes for Editors Deltex Medical manufactures and markets the CardioQ monitor, which usesdisposable ultra-sound probes inserted into the oesophagus to determine theamount of blood being pumped around the body - 'circulating blood volume'.Reduced circulating blood volume is known as hypovolaemia, which leads toinsufficient oxygen being delivered to the organs. This causes medicalcomplications including peripheral and major organ failure which can lead todeath. Hypovolaemia, which is akin to severe dehydration, affects virtuallyevery patient having surgery because of the combined effects of pre-operativestarvation, the impact of the anaesthetic agents and trauma from the surgeryitself. Using fluids and drugs, guided by the CardioQ, to optimise the amountof circulating blood significantly reduces post-operative complications allowingpatients to make a faster, more complete recovery and return home earlier. The CardioQ incorporates the Company's proprietary software and a smalldiameter, easy-to-use, minimally invasive, disposable oesophageal probe that isused for transmitting and receiving an ultra-sound signal. By using thistechnology, the CardioQ provides clinicians with the ability to haemodynamicallyoptimise critically ill patients and those undergoing routine moderate to majorsurgery through the controlled administration of fluid and drugs. Haemodynamicoptimisation has been scientifically proven to improve the speed and quality ofpatient recovery and reduce hospital stay. There are already over 1,250 CardioQs currently in use in hospitals worldwideand distribution arrangements are in place in over 30 countries. In addition,there are currently more than 90 clinical publications on the use of the CardioQwhich have repeatedly:- • validated the results of the Monitor against known standards for measuring cardiac output, demonstrating that the technology works • proved that the CardioQ works in a wide range of surgical procedures • demonstrated that the Company's technology provides significant health and economic benefits by helping to reduce post-operative complications and length of hospital stays by an average of 30 to 40 per cent for a wide range of patients. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange