Patent ID: 7645295

Claim:
A method for postoperatively compressing a bone graft between adjacent spinal vertebrae comprising the steps of: securing a first plate of a spinal fixation device to a vertebra adjacent one side of a bone graft; securing a second plate of the spinal fixation device to a vertebra adjacent an opposite side of the bone graft, said first and second plates having respective first and second sets of lateral interlocking elements cooperable with one another to enable progressive postoperative advancement of the plates toward one another and to lock the plates to one another in a plurality of advanced positions precluding movement of the plates away from one another in each said advanced positions for progressively compressing the bone graft between the adjacent vertebrae, one of said first and second plates including a flexing mechanism for flexing movement of one of said first and second sets of lateral interlocking elements toward and away from another of said first and second sets of lateral interlocking elements to enable the progressive advancement and locking of said plates to one another; wherein said flexing mechanism is part of a male projection and comprises a pair of legs and a slot therebetween, and wherein said flexing movement further comprises flexing said legs toward and away from one another in response to movement of the vertebrae toward one another interlocking said respective first and second sets of lateral interlocking elements of said first and second plates in a first position relative to one another; postoperatively advancing the plates from said first position toward one another into a second position relative to one another in response to movement of the vertebrae toward one another; and locking the plates to one another in said second advanced position, thereby precluding movement of the plates away from one another post-locking.