Patent ID: 8133233

Claim:
A method of performing total knee arthroplasty comprising: obtaining a protector and a patella implant, the protector and the patella implant each having bone-contacting surfaces and exposed opposite surfaces, the exposed opposite surfaces of the protector and the patella implant having different shapes, the bone-contacting surface and the exposed opposite surface of the protector being flat, planar and substantially parallel to each other; resecting a portion of the patella to define a posterior plane extending over a majority of the proximal-distal dimension of the patella; covering at least a majority of the planar resected portion of the patella with the protector with the bone-contacting surface of the protector positioned against the planar resected portion of the patella; positioning an external implement against the exposed opposite surface of the protector and applying force to the external implement to move one of the bones of the knee; resecting a portion of the distal femur and proximal tibia after the patella has been resected and moved and while the patella is covered with the protector; removing the protector from the patella after the distal femur and proximal tibia have been resected; and affixing the patella implant to the resected patella after the distal femur and the proximal tibia have been resected and after the protector has been removed from the patella.