Patent ID: 8172847

Claim:
A rod reduction system for placing a spinal fixation rod into a rod receiving opening in a spinal anchor and installing a fastener to secure the rod to the spinal anchor, comprising: a cap having a bore extending therethrough, a driving element, and a mating element disposed on a distal end thereof and adapted to removably mate the cap to a spinal anchor; an elongate drive rod adapted to extend through the bore and having a driving element that cooperates with the driving element of the cap to form a driving mechanism; and a fastener disposed on a distal portion of the elongate drive rod; wherein actuation of the driver mechanism is effective to advance the drive rod through the cap to thereby reduce a spinal rod into a rod receiving opening of the spinal anchor and install the fastener to secure the rod to the spinal anchor; wherein the driving element on the drive rod includes threads formed on a proximal portion thereof and adapted to engage the threads formed in the bore of the cap; and wherein the threads on the drive rod are timed with threads formed on the fastener.