Patent ID: 7922723

Claim:
A method for cutting bone or cartilage in a surgical procedure, the method comprising: providing a rongeur having a shaft with a foot plate extending therefrom and a hollow member in slidable relationship to the shaft, the hollow member having a mid-longitudinal axis, a cutting edge, and an interior that is adapted to receive cuts of bone or cartilage therein, the interior having a length along a longitudinal axis of the rongeur; positioning the rongeur at a site in the human body where the bone or cartilage is to be cut; cutting and storing bone or cartilage with the rongeur by positioning a majority of the cutting edge of the hollow member in contact with the foot plate to produce multiple cut pieces of bone or cartilage which are stored along at least a portion of the length of the interior of the hollow member, the cutting edge of the hollow member and the foot plate being in a fixed rotational relationship about the mid-longitudinal axis of the hollow member when in contact with each other; preventing the cut pieces of bone or cartilage from contacting the shaft from within the hollow member, and preventing the ejection of all previously cut pieces of bone or cartilage from the interior of the hollow member along the entire length of the interior of the hollow member while additional cuts of the bone or cartilage are being made with the rongeur.