Patent ID: 7160302

Claim:
A method for treating a distal radius fracture of a patient comprising the use of an internal fixation rod, the radius anatomically having an articular joint surface, a metaphysis region, a shaft portion and a medullary canal associated therewith, the distal radius fracture having a fracture line which divides the radius into a distal fracture fragment portion and a proximal fracture fragment portion, the distal fragment portion including the distal end of the radius proximate the articular joint surface, the distal portion of the fracture having a width thereacross, said method comprising the steps of: implanting an internal fixation device comprising an elongated fixation member, a distal fixation member, and at least one proximal fixation member into a subject to treat a distal radius fracture, so that a proximal portion of the elongated fixation member resides in the shalt inside the medullary canal of the radius of a patient, wherein a distal portion of the elongated fixation member distal portion has a head with a laterally extending distal aperture formed therein; inserting the distal fixation member into the laterally extending aperture in the head of the elongated fixation member so that the distal fixation member attaches to the elongate member and the distal fracture fragment to hold the distal portion of the elongate fixation member to the distal fracture fragment, wherein the distal fixation member bas a length and is sized and configured so that, in position, it laterally extends through the head of the elongated fixation member in the distal aperture and beyond the perimeter of the elongate fixation member to reside across at least a major portion of the radius in the metaphysis region, so, that, in position, the elongated fixation member is configured and sized to reside within the radius such that both the opposing distal and proximal portions reside within the natural bounds of the radius of the patient; and attaching the at least one proximal fixation member to the elongated fixation member to anchor the elongated fixation member inside the medullary canal of the radius at a location which is below the fracture.