Patent ID: 8906075

Claim:
A bone fixation assembly comprising: a bone fixation plate defining at least two apertures, each aperture including an outer region and an inner region, the outer regions defining a cross-sectional dimension that is greater than a cross-sectional dimension of the inner regions; at least one permanent bone fixation member that is configured to be driven through one of the apertures so as to permanently affix the bone fixation plate to an underlying bone; a temporary fixation wire that is elongate along a first direction, the temporary fixation wire including a wire body that has a thickness less than the thickness of the permanent bone fixation member, the temporary fixation wire further including an abutment member that extends from the wire body such that the abutment member defines a distal surface that extends out from the wire body along a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, a proximal surface that extends out from the wire body, and an intermediate surface that extends from the proximal surface toward the distal surface, the intermediate surface having a cross-sectional dimension that is equal to the cross-sectional dimension of the outer regions, wherein insertion of the temporary fixation wire through the bone fixation plate causes the abutment member to temporarily compress the bone fixation plate against the underlying bone, such that the temporary fixation wire prevents movement of the bone fixation plate relative to the underlying bone prior to subsequent permanent fixation of the bone fixation plate to the underlying bone.