Patent ID: 8449582
Filing Date: 2013-05-28
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method of implanting a fusion plate to fuse two adjacent cervical vertebrae of the spinal column of a patient, the fusion plate having at least two primary fastener openings, the method comprising the steps of: dissecting a throat of the patient unilaterally with respect to a frontal midline of the spinal column of the patient; providing access through the throat dissection to the spinal column; inserting the fusion plate into the throat dissection to a position near the spinal column while minimizing displacement of a trachea, an esophagus, and other throat structures; positioning the fusion plate in an asymmetrical relationship with the frontal midline of the spinal column so that at least more than half of the fusion plate is located to one side of the frontal midline of the spinal column than the opposite side of the frontal midline of the spinal column; contacting a side portion, adjacent an anterior tubercle, of an anterior surface of a first cervical vertebra of the spinal column and a side portion, adjacent an anterior tubercle, of an anterior surface of a second cervical vertebra of the spinal column with the fusion plate; inserting a first primary fastener, having a longitudinal axis, through a first primary fastener opening of the fusion plate and into the first cervical vertebra such that the longitudinal axis of the first primary fastener is angled within a sagittal plane relative to a transverse plane of the spinal column; and inserting a second primary fastener, having a longitudinal axis, through a second primary fastener opening of the fusion plate and into the second cervical vertebra such that the longitudinal axis of the second primary fastener is angled within the sagittal plane relative to the transverse plane of the spinal column.