Patent ID: 11857236
Assignee: RETROFIX SCREWS, LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A surgical method, comprising the steps of:
(a) accessing an implanted orthopedic screw previously implanted in one or more bone segments of a patient, the orthopedic screw, comprising a unitary shaft, including:
(i) screw threads comprising a first threaded alignment and having a diameter and formed on a first, distal end of the shaft, a terminal end portion of the screw threads including an end edge adapted to facilitate passage of the screw through the one or more bone segments at a fracture site;
(ii) an unthreaded shank having a diameter less than the diameter of the screw threads;
(iii) a head positioned on a second, proximal end of the shaft integrally-formed to the shank and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the screw threads and the shank;
(iv) an enlarged terminal end segment of the head including:
(1) a socket for receiving a tool adapted for rotating the screw into the one or more bone segments at the fracture site; and
(2) a threaded cannula portion centrally located within the socket at a focus point of the enlarged terminal end segment and extending along a cannula for at least a portion of a length of the head, the threaded cannula portion comprising a second threaded alignment opposite the first threaded alignment of the screw threads and configured to receive an instrument head adapted for rotating the implanted orthopedic screw for removal; and

(b) fastening the instrument head adapted for rotating the implanted orthopedic screw to the threaded cannula portion of the enlarged terminal end segment, wherein the instrument head comprises an instrument shaft extending from a threaded end to a tang end, wherein threads of the threaded end are configured to correspond to threads of the threaded cannula portion, and wherein a tang of the tang end comprises a notched head configured to fit into a driving device socket of a driving device;
(c) at least partially withdrawing the implanted orthopedic screw from the one or more bone segments by rotating the instrument head.