Centinel Spine Partners with Former Patient – Tiger Woods

West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Centinel Spine^®, LLC, a privately held spinal implant and instrumentation company focused on anterior column reconstruction, announced a partnership with professional golfer, Tiger Woods.

In April 2017, Tiger Woods was treated by Texas Back Institute’s Dr. Richard Guyer who implanted Centinel Spine’s STALIF M-Ti™ product to alleviate Wood’s ongoing, debilitating back and leg pain. The Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion (ALIF) surgery using Centinel Spine’s STALIF M-Ti fusion implant was so successful that it allowed Woods to complete his PGA Tour comeback after almost three years of golf inactivity. Woods’ comeback culminated with his win at the 83rd Masters, which was his first major win in 11 years.

Woods described his recovery as “miraculous.” He said, “I’m a walking miracle…I had low periods for 4-6 months, where there were times I had to be helped out of bed. There were some days when I couldn’t stand up. Coming back and playing golf was never in my thoughts, I just wanted the pain to go away—I wanted to live my life again with Sam and Charlie.”

Woods continued, “The results of the surgery speak for themselves. I did a lot of research into the various spinal surgical procedures available to me and was convinced that surgery through an anterior approach represented the best option.”

“I relied on Dr. Richard Guyer to direct me to the right solution for my back which was the Centinel Spine product. I have regained my life, and playing golf again at this level, is just an added bonus. My surgery has had a profound impact on me and my family, and I thank my spine surgeon and the technology provided by Centinel Spine.”

The spinal fusion device that was used in Woods’ spinal fusion surgery was part of Centinel Spine’s Integrated Interbody™ category. Developed in 1988 through the launch of the revolutionary Hartshill Horseshoe product, this was the first anterior lumbar interbody fusion device in the world. This first-of-its-kind device was the basis for future generations of the market-leading technology platform known today as STALIF^®. Over 65,000 STALIF devices have been implanted worldwide over the past 30 years.

In conjunction with its Tiger Woods partnership, Centinel Spine has announced its new patient platform called rediscover (www.rediscovermylife.org). The rediscover platform is intended to be a patient resource, surgeon locator, and an “inspirational Spine Community of former pain-sufferers coming together to tell their stories of triumph over adversity.”

OTW spoke with John Viscogliosi, CEO of Centinel Spine, who said, “This is a significant milestone for Centinel Spine. I look forward to working with Tiger to publicize his story and educate patients about the accomplishments they can achieve after spine surgery. Our technologies all have a long and excellent clinical history, and this is why our product was trusted to be used with one of the leading sports figures of all time. This partnership is a major achievement towards our mission of advancing care for patients suffering from debilitating spine pain and discomfort.”