Patent ID: 7481829

Claim:
A bone fixation kit for stabilizing skeletal bone across a discontinuity comprising: a plate having a first end and a second end with an intermediate length to span a discontinuity and a width including at least one screw hole in each of said first end and said second end, said plate including a thickness with a first surface for contacting a bone and an opposite second surface, said plurality of screw holes extending through said thickness for accepting locking screws, said plurality of screw holes each having a first countersink defined by an enlarged depression in said second surface, each said depression having a bottom wall between said first and said second surfaces, each said screw hole and each said depression having a longitudinal axis; a plurality of locking screws, each locking screw having external threads, each locking screw having adapted to penetrate each of said plurality of screw holes, said locking screws each having an enlarged head adapted to engage said bottom wall of each said depression; and an attachment system having a plurality of tubular bone anchors each having a first end and a second end and interior threads and exterior threads, said interior threads of each of said bone anchors frictionally engaging the external to threads on proximal and distal portions of each of said locking screws whereby said bone anchors are threaded into a bone, wherein said locking screws are inserted through said plate and are threadably engaged with said bone anchors to stabilize the bone across the discontinuity, the length of each locking screw being such that the first surface of said plate is above and spaced from the first end of each of said bone anchors and the distal portion of each locking screw extends into a distal portion of each of said bone anchors when the locking screws are in their final assembled position within the bone anchors, wherein each said plurality of tubular bone anchors has a first internal diameter and a split second end portion with a second internal diameter smaller than said first internal diameter; wherein the distal portion of each of said plurality of locking screws is threadingly received within the second internal diameter of each of said plurality of bone anchors and; whereby receipt of each said distal portion within each said split second end portion causes expansion of said split second end portion of each of said plurality of bone anchors.