Patent ID: 7648509
Filing Date: 2010-01-19
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. A method for immobilizing a patient's sacroiliac joint through a passageway provided by an extra-articular recess into the sacroiliac joint wherein the sacroiliac joint and the extra-articular recess are formed by a surface of an ilium bone and a surface of a sacrum bone, the method comprising inserting an immobilization/fusion element into the sacroiliac joint between the ilium and the sacrum bones through the extra-articular recess and thereby driving apart the surfaces of the ilium and sacrum bones that form the sacroiliac joint and adjoining surfaces of the extra-articular recess, wherein the element is inserted through a cannula, over a pin, or both, that is placed through an incision formed in the patient to immobilize the sacroiliac joint.