Patent ID: 11963674
Assignee: PANTHEON SPINAL, LLC
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A spine surgery method, comprising:
sequentially inserting first, second, and third retractor blades along a retroperitoneal approach to a vertebral disc space below a bifurcation of iliac arteries, wherein the first, second, and third retractor blades are releasably lockable to a retractor body including a proximal portion, a distal portion, and a pair of pivot arms extending outwardly and distally of the distal portion;
after insertion of the first retractor blade along the retroperitoneal approach to the vertebral disc space below the bifurcation of the iliac arteries, anchoring the first retractor blade to a vertebral body using a first anchor pin slidably inserted through a first longitudinal aperture of the first retractor blade and into the vertebral body, the first retractor blade being releasably mounted to the distal portion of the retractor body;
after insertion of the second retractor blade along the retroperitoneal approach to the vertebral disc space below the bifurcation of the iliac arteries, releasably mounting the second retractor blade to one of the pivot arms of the retractor body; and
after insertion of the third retractor blade along the retroperitoneal approach to the vertebral disc space below the bifurcation of the iliac arteries, releasably mounting the third retractor blade to the other of the pivot arms of the retractor body, wherein the second retractor blade has an interior blade face oriented toward the third retractor blade and extending longitudinally from an upper blade portion of the second retractor blade to a lower blade tip of the second retractor blade, and the interior blade face having at least a longitudinal convex curvature and longitudinal concave curvature in the interior blade face such that the interior face at the lower blade tip of the second retractor blade is laterally offset from the upper blade portion in a direction toward the third retractor blade.