WARSAW, Ind., March 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Symmetry Medical Inc. (NYSE:SMA), a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays, announced today that its subsidiary, Symmetry Surgical, is launching the newest innovation in its industry-leading Bookwalter^® portfolio, the Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator, at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) in New Orleans, March 11-15, 2014.

The Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator supports direct anterior approach (DAA) total hip arthroplasty (THA) by providing a simple method to elevate and stabilize the resected femur during femoral canal broaching. Built through collaboration with surgeons and operating room professionals, this product offers an operating room (OR) table-mounted alternative to healthcare providers in providing access and visualization in the minimally invasive DAA THA.

The Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator is the first orthopedic specific system from the market leading, table-mounted line of Bookwalter^® Retractor Systems for general surgical applications. It leverages the robust construction and OR table attachments required in general surgery into DAA THA and does not require an assistant to elevate the femur using hand-held retractors during off-table cases.

Dr. John Bookwalter, surgeon inventor of the Bookwalter^® Retractor System, said, "I believe that good exposure is the key to good surgery. By facilitating reliable exposure of the femoral shaft within the incision, the new Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator can help hospitals and surgery centers provide access and visibility in minimally invasive direct access hip surgery. This new Bookwalter^® innovation is the result of years of research and development with orthopedic surgeons and I am excited to extend the Bookwalter^® brand to Orthopedics."

"Symmetry Surgical is focused on driving innovation and developing surgical instruments that help give our customers leading-edge alternatives in surgical procedures," said Ajey Atre, President, Symmetry Surgical. "The new Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator demonstrates our commitment to developing surgical technologies designed to help surgeons and surgical staff deliver exceptional care around the world."

Symmetry Surgical will provide hands-on demonstrations of the Bookwalter^® Femoral Elevator at AAOS in Symmetry Medical's Booth 4949. The product is now available through Symmetry Surgical for direct hospitals and surgery centers as well as through Symmetry Medical's OEM Solutions team for current OEM customers looking for additional access into the direct anterior approach market.

About Symmetry Surgical

Symmetry Surgical is dedicated to developing and delivering high-quality, innovative surgical instruments that meet clinicians' needs and improve patients' lives. Our team collaborates with healthcare providers around the world to provide medical devices that exceed our customers' expectations and provide solutions for today's needs and tomorrow's growth. Our rich and diverse history creates one of the industry's most comprehensive surgical instrument portfolios, which includes our well-known brands such as BOOKWALTER^®, GREENBERG™, RILEY™, OLSEN™, ULTRA™, QUAD-LOCK™, FLASHPAK™, RAPIDCLEAN^®, OPTI-LENGTH^®, CLASSIC^® and CLASSIC PLUS^®. Headquartered in Nashville, Symmetry Surgical is a wholly owned subsidiary of Symmetry Medical Inc. www.symmetrysurgical.com

About Symmetry Medical, Inc.

Symmetry Medical Inc. is a leading global source of innovative medical device solutions, including surgical instruments, orthopedic implants, and sterilization cases and trays. The Company's thousands of Teammates provide design, development and worldwide production capabilities for these products to customers in the orthopedic industry, other medical device markets, and specialized non-healthcare markets. Symmetry's trusted reputation and brands, broad Intellectual Property portfolio and commitment to innovation enable it to collaborate with hundreds of global medical device manufacturers as well as thousands of hospitals to provide solutions for today's needs and tomorrow's growth. 

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in the press release regarding Symmetry Medical Inc.'s business which are not historical facts may be "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are predictive in nature and are frequently identified by the use of terms such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "intend," and similar words indicating possible future expectations, events or actions. Such predictive statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from our current expectations. We refer you to the "Risk Factors" and "Forward Looking-Statements" sections in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Company's other filings with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov.