Patent ID: 8764759

Claim:
A method for preparing a distal femur to receive a posterior stabilized prosthesis, comprising: (a) resecting and preparing a patient's distal femur with anterior and posterior cuts; (b) positioning a femoral trial component on the distal femur, the trial component comprising (i) condylar regions separated by an opening, the opening defining a central portion with an anterior-most portion and opening side edges and (ii) a removable cutting guide adapted to be received by the opening and secured in the opening in a fixed relationship with the anterior-most portion of the opening; (c) securing the removable cutting guide in a fixed relationship relative to the opening prior to the step of preparing the patient's distal femur; (d) preparing the patient's distal femur to receive a posterior stabilized prosthesis using the removable cutting guide to guide at least one cutting instrument; and (e) controlling the at least one cutting instrument in an anterior/posterior direction wherein the step of controlling the at least one cutting instrument in an anterior/posterior direction is controlled by a length of the cutting guide.