Patent ID: 8357184

Claim:
A method for attaching a fixation system to the spine of a patient, the fixation system including at least two bone anchors and a spinal rod linking the at least two bone anchors, comprising the steps of: connecting a first bone anchor to a first retractor blade, advancing the first bone anchor and first retractor blade together to a first spinal vertebra, and anchoring the first bone anchor through a pedicle of the first spinal vertebra; connecting a second bone anchor to a second retractor blade, advancing the second bone anchor and second retractor blade together to a second spinal vertebra, and anchoring the second bone anchor through a pedicle of the second vertebra, wherein the second vertebra is separated from the first vertebra by an intervertebral disc space and the first vertebra, second vertebra, and intervertebral disc space comprise a first spinal level; connecting a retractor body to the first retractor blade and the second retractor blade and operating the retractor body to expand an operative corridor formed between the first retractor blade and second retractor blade from the skin level of the patient to the spine; adjusting the angle of the operative corridor until the operative corridor is parallel to the intervertebral disc; and linking the first bone anchor and the second bone anchor with the spinal rod.