Patent ID: 8491588

Claim:
A surgical instrument for assembling a spinal rod to a plurality of anchoring members comprising: the first lever comprising a hollow guide tube extending along a first longitudinal axis from a first proximal handle section to a first distal end section; the guide tube having a first longitudinal bore extending therethrough along the first axis; the first lever further comprising a first intermediate section disposed between the first handle section and the first distal end section; a second lever having a second proximal handle section, a second distal end section, and an intervening second intermediate section; the second handle section extending along a second longitudinal axis; the second distal end section extending along a third longitudinal axis; wherein the second and third axes are non-parallel; the second distal end section having a second longitudinal bore extending along the third axis; the first and second levers pivotally connected at the first and second intermediate sections for relative rotation about a pivot axis; the first and second axes extending in a common first plane; wherein the pivot axis is transverse to the first plane at a non-perpendicular first angle; wherein the third axis is transverse to the first plane at a non-perpendicular second angle; wherein pivoting of the second lever relative to the first lever about the pivot axis causes the second proximal end section to traverse along the first plane.