Patent ID: 9572609
Date: 2017-02-21
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A method of stabilizing a fracture of a distal radius bone, the distal radius bone having subchondral bone that defines an articular surface with a concave curvature, the method comprising: a) providing or obtaining a rigid volar plate, the volar plate having a proximal body portion and a distal head portion, each of the body portion and the head portion including a bone contacting first surface and an opposite second surface, the head portion angled upward with respect to a plane containing the body portion when the bone contacting first surface of the body portion is facing downward, the head portion including at least three first holes arranged in a generally medial to lateral direction, each of the at least three first holes defining a respective fixed central axis that is at a defined angle, each defined angle being at a different number of degrees from the other of the at least three first holes, wherein a first hole of the at least three first holes has a central axis that is oriented parallel to a line normal to a plane containing the head portion, a third hole of the at least three first holes has a central axis that is angled at 7 to 13 degrees relative to the central axis of the first of the at least three first holes, and a second hole of the at least three first holes has a central axis that is situated at an angle between an angle of the central axis of the first hole and an angle of the central axis of the third hole, and the body portion includes a plurality of second holes; b) positioning the bone contacting first surface of the body portion against the volar side of the radius bone; c) inserting at least one bone screw through at least one of the second holes and into the radius bone to secure the volar plate against the volar side of the radius bone; d) reducing the fracture; e) inserting each peg of a first plurality of pegs into a corresponding one of the at least three first holes in the head portion and into the volar side of the radius bone, each peg having a threaded head; and f) threadedly coupling the threaded head of each peg of the first plurality of pegs with the corresponding one of the at least three first holes of the head portion of the plate such that a shaft of each peg of the first plurality of pegs extends immediately below the subchondral bone of the radius bone and is axially fixed relative to the head portion of the plate, wherein the shaft of each peg of the first plurality of pegs extends divergently relative to the other pegs from the bone contacting first surface of the plate in both a medial-lateral direction and a proximal-distal direction, and wherein at least the at least three pegs and the head portion of the bone plate cooperate to form a stabilizing construct for the subchondral bone that conforms to the concave curvature of the articular surface.