Patent ID: 8784452

Claim:
A transconnector for joining adjacent longitudinal spinal rods, the spinal rods being secured to a patient's vertebra via a plurality of bone fixation elements, each of the bone fixation elements including a body portion having a rod-receiving channel for receiving one of the longitudinal spinal rods, the transconnector comprising: a bridge member having a first end and a second end; and first and second bone fixation coupling elements, wherein the first and second bone fixation coupling elements are sized and configured to engage the first and second ends of the bridge member, wherein the first and second bone fixation coupling elements are each sized and configured to engage one of the bone fixation elements, each of the bone fixation coupling elements including a locking cap, a bushing and a nut, the bushing being sized and configured to interconnect the locking cap with the bridge member, the locking cap including a first set of threads for engaging the bone fixation element, a second set of threads for engaging the nut, and a non-threaded central portion located between the first set of threads and the second set of threads, wherein the second set of threads has an outer diameter that is less than the first set of threads, wherein the central portion is tapered and has an outer diameter less than the outer diameter of the first set of threads and greater than the outer diameter of the second set of threads.