Patent ID: 7625380

Claim:
A surgical instrument for inserting an implant between adjacent vertebrae of a spine, the instrument comprising: a handle coupled to a proximal end of a shaft, the shaft having a longitudinal axis and an opposite distal end, a first inserter arm coupled to the distal end of the shaft, the first inserter arm having a first driving shoulder extending outwardly generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and a first inserter tang projecting distally from said first driving shoulder; a second inserter arm coupled to the distal end of the shaft and defining an implant receiving recess between the first inserter arm and the second inserter arm; and a distractor assembly mounted on said first inserter arm, said distractor assembly comprising a retention base having at least one distally projecting distractor tang, at least one distractor arm coupled to said retention base, and a distractor arm connector coupled to said distractor arm, said distractor arm slidably joined to the first shoulder, wherein movement of the distractor assembly distally along the longitudinal axis is limited by the abutting engagement of the distractor arm connector with the first driving shoulder and movement proximally of the distractor assembly is limited by the abutting engagement of the retention base with the first driving shoulder.