Patent ID: 6875237

Claim:
A method for using minimally invasive surgery to implant a prosthetic acetabular shell and insert into a natural acetabulum, comprising the steps of: incising a hip with a minimally invasive incision; implanting the acetabular shell into the natural acetabulum; providing a driving instrument having a working section and a driving section connected together with a joint connector, wherein the working section includes a handle, the driving section includes a driving tip, and the joint connector enables the working section and driving section to move to various angles relative to each other; attaching an acetabular plug to the driving tip of the driving section; positioning the working section at an angle with respect to the driving section; positioning the driving tip and acetabular plug through the incision to engage the acetabular shell; rotating the handle to threadably engage the acetabular plug to the acetabular shell while the working section is at an angle relative to the driving section; removing the driving instrument from the incision; positioning the acetabular insert into the acetabular shell; and closing the incision.