Cook Medical’s Flourish™ now available in US

When a baby is born with esophageal atresia, the upper part of the esophagus does not connect to the lower part of the esophagus and the stomach, preventing them from eating normally. Until now, this could only be repaired surgically. In 2017 the FDA approved Cook Medical’s Flourish™ Pediatric Esophageal Atresia device under the Humanitarian Device Exemption, which uses rare earth magnets inserted into the upper and lower ends of the infant’s esophagus to gradually stretch both ends of the esophagus, after which the tissue connects to form an intact esophagus. It is now available in the US.
Barry Slowey, president of Cook Winston-Salem and vice president of Cook Medical’s Endoscopy specialty, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to officially offer this minimally invasive approach for infants suffering with this condition to physicians in the U.S. It has been especially rewarding to see the positive effects that Flourish has had on these children. An important part of our culture is to support patient populations that don’t have access to treatment options, which is why we worked with the FDA to establish the HDE pathway.”