Patent ID: 8231663

Claim:
A method of enabling a surgery on one or more of a set of bones comprising the ulna, radius, tibia, fibula, metacarpals, carpals, metatarsals, tarsals, and phalanges comprising providing a plate and screw system and instruments for use in surgical fixation of a small bone or bones, said system including a pre-contoured plate which is a X -shaped plate, the plate comprising a trunk defining a longitudinal axis with a first end and an opposing second end, and first pair of a first arm and a second arm extending from the first end of the trunk and a second pair of a first arm and a second arm extending from the second end of the trunk, the trunk having a constant radial curve in the z direction about the longitudinal axis, and the first arm and the second arm of each of the first pair and of the second pair following the radial curve of the trunk so that the first arm and the second arm of a pair spiral about the longitudinal axis toward each other, each of the first arms having an ear with at least one screw hole defining a first screw axis, perpendicular to a tangent to the top surface of the first ear, the first ear being attached to the trunk by a linking section having a waist, a first angle and a first length being defined by a line from the center of the first arm screw hole to the intersection of the longitudinal axis of the trunk, each of the second arms having a second ear with at least one second screw hole defining a second screw axis perpendicular to a tangent to the top surface of the second ear, the second ear being attached to the trunk by a linking section having a waist, a second angle and a second length being defined by a line from the center of the second arm screw hole to the intersection of the longitudinal axis of the trunk, the first angle and the first length being different from the second angle and the second length whereby the first screw axis and the second screw axis converge toward the inferior side of the plate but do not intersect; and said system further comprising a plate bender which will bend the linking section of the first arm and the second arm without deforming the screw hole of the arm.