About Us
Starsurgical provides tools to help manage and close the open abdomen. We are very responsive to surgeon and patient needs. No surgeon or patient has gone without our products for lack of a purchase order. If there's a need, we get it there.
Our products have helped surgeons treat these very sick patients for more than twelve years. We appreciate hearing from surgeons about what they were able to accomplish with the device. If you have a case where the patch has helped, or if you have comments or questions, we would welcome hearing from you.
History of the Wittmann Patch
The Wittmann Patch, initially known as the artificial burr and STAR (Staged Abdominal Repair) Temporary Wound Cover, was developed by Dr. Wittmann and his colleagues at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
In 1992, after larger companies determined that the market for the device was too small to interest them, the Medical College of Wisconsin Research Foundation licensed it to Mike Deutsch and Osteogenics.
In 1996, the STAR Temporary Wound Cover was the first device placed on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Humanitarian Use Device/Humanitarian Device Exemption (HUD/HDE) pathway, which was created to facilitate the approval of devices for orphan indications (less than 4000 per year).
In 1999, Osteogenics received marketing approval with guidance from the FDA.
In 2000, Mike Deutsch and Dr. Wittmann partnered to form Starsurgical and the device was renamed the Wittmann Patch. Since then, patches provided by Starsurgical have helped surgeons successfully treat and close thousands of patients with complex abdominal wounds.
In 2011, Starsurgical worked with the Trauma Surgeons at the JHS Cook County Hospital in Chicago to make TAWT available to the surgical community.
In 2012, the Wittmann Patch was authorized for the CE mark and was made available for sale in the United Kingdom and the European Union.