Patent ID: 8574298

Claim:
Apparatus for use in retaining spinal elements of a spinal column of a patient in desired spatial relationship, said apparatus being locatable in a position where vertebral bone has been excised from the spinal column and comprising: a tensioning member positionable along the spinal column and having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween; first and second buttress members located on said first and second ends of said tensioning member, each of the buttress members including an abutment surface, and wherein at least one of said buttress members includes a bore which opens from an end of the buttress member opposite from the abutment surface, and terminates at a closed inner end surface inside said buttress member, the bore being adapted to receive and completely surround one of said first or second ends of said tensioning member received in the bore, wherein the bore is formed along a central axis of the at least one buttress member, wherein the one of said first or second ends of said tensioning member is slideably moveable in said bore, and wherein when the one of said first and second ends of said tensioning member is contained within said bore, the closed inner end surface prevents the end of the tensioning member from projecting beyond the closed inner end surface; the apparatus further comprising a retainer which is adapted to secure the one of said first and second ends of said tensioning member and said buttress members in different fixed positions with respect to each other; and wherein a line coaxial with an axis of said tensioning member at said first and second ends, and extending from said tensioning member beyond said first and second ends, intersects with said abutment surfaces, wherein said tensioning member is a member which is deformable to a curved-shape to substantially match a contour of a cervical spine of the patient, and when the apparatus is adapted to be located in the position where the vertebral bone has been excised, and the abutment surfaces of the first and second buttress members are adapted to abut, respectively, against the spinal element adjacent thereto, the line coaxially extending beyond each of the first and second ends of said tensioning member is adapted to align, respectively, in an axial direction of the adjacent spinal element, wherein the apparatus is adapted to exert a force in the axial direction of each of the adjacent spinal elements.