Patent ID: 8167888

Claim:
In combination, a tibial component of a knee prosthesis and a system of components used during knee arthroplasty, after resection of a tibia, for guiding a cutting member into proper orientation for resecting a portion of a femur, said combination comprising: the tibial component having a thickness; the system comprising: a femoral cutting guide including a slot configured and arranged to receive a cutting member intended to resect a portion of the femur; and a plurality of spacer blocks of different predefined thicknesses, each configured to be temporarily positioned upon a resected proximal portion of a tibia during knee arthroplasty, either with or without a modular attachment attached thereto, each of said spacer blocks including: a main body portion having said predefined thickness defined between substantially parallel distal and proximal surfaces, wherein said predefined thickness of said main body portion of a particular spacer block is approximately equal to said thickness of said tibial component of a knee joint prosthesis; an attachment arrangement on an anterior side of said main body portion, wherein said attachment arrangement is configured and arranged to mate with a complementary attachment arrangement on said femoral cutting guide; and an anterior stop projecting from said distal surface of said spacer block, near said anterior side, wherein said anterior stop is configured and arranged to contact an anterior edge of a tibia when said spacer block is positioned upon the resected proximal portion of a tibia in order to prevent movement of said spacer block in a posterior direction.