MidSouth Orthopedics / Arthrex

MidSouth Orthopedics Inc. of Little Rock said it can continue to grow if it follows its motto: “Helping surgeons treat their patients better.”

As the exclusive distributor of Arthrex surgical products, MidSouth also supports orthopedic surgeons and their staffs in operating rooms across Arkansas and in northern Louisiana, said Brian Wallace, president of MidSouth.

“It’s an extremely competitive market,” he said.

But the surgical sales company has thrived. Wallace bought the agency that sells Arthrex’s products in 2011 from Balenko & Associates Inc. of Little Rock, and started MidSouth Orthopedics. Since then, revenue has jumped more than 400% to a little more than $25 million for its fiscal year that ended June 30, Wallace said. This fiscal year should end with about $27 million in revenue.

MidSouth began with six employees and now has 46. Wallace said the company’s success is tied to building surgeons’ practices and to education, “both customer education and having the most educated and trained technology consultants in the industry.”

MidSouth has training labs in Little Rock, Fayetteville and Shreveport.

MidSouth’s employees also are in the operating rooms with the surgeons to teach them how to use Arthrex’s products. MidSouth’s primary focus is sports medicine injuries, but it also has products for imaging and joint replacements.

MidSouth also has started a surgical mission trip to Belize, and this summer will mark its fourth trip, Wallace said. In addition, in 2014, MidSouth began a program that arranges orthopedic demonstrations at high schools to encourage students to become interested in careers in medicine.

“We have been very blessed,” Wallace said. “And we are finding creative ways to give back locally to the communities we serve … and globally by working in Belize, an impoverished country where orthopedics hasn’t been offered.”