Patent ID: 6997940

Claim:
An internal fracture fixation assembly for fixation of a fracture in a bone, the assembly comprising: an implantable first suture retaining member having a body configured and dimensioned to be moveable through a passage in the bone and to be positionable proximate an outer surface of the bone on a first side of the fracture, the body including first and second parallel channels extending therethrough; a suture having first and second portions, the first portion extending through the first channel of the first suture retaining member and the second portion extending through the second channel of the first suture retaining member, at least one of the portions positionable in the passage of the bone; an implantable second suture retaining member having a body configured and dimensioned to be positionable proximate the outer surface of the bone on a second side of the fracture, the body including a first channel extending therethrough for receiving at least one of the first and second portions of the suture, wherein at least one of the suture retaining members is made of a biocompatible metallic material; a tubular member configured and dimensioned to be positionable within the passage of the bone between the first and second suture retaining members, the tubular member having a lumen for receiving at least part of the first and second portions of the suture; and a material within the lumen of the tubular member, the material selected from the group consisting of bone particles, bone graft, bone growth inducers, medicinal substances, osteoinductive protein, collagen, and combinations thereof, wherein the first channel of the body of the second suture retaining member receives the first portion of the suture and the body of the second suture retaining member includes a second channel extending therethrough for receiving the second portion of the suture, the first and second channels being parallel.