Patent ID: 7425213

Claim:
A method of implanting an intramedullary nail into a medullary canal of a fractured bone, the nail having a length, the fracture demarcating the bone into first and second bone portions, said method comprising: a) introducing at least half the length of the nail into the medullary canal of the first portion of the bone, the nail having a plurality of threaded screw holes; b) reducing the fractured bone, wherein once the fracture is reduced substantially the entirety of the nail is within the medullary canal; c) coupling a jig to a first location on the nail; d) using the jig to drill holes through the bone in alignment with some of the threaded screw holes; e) providing screws having a shaft with machine threads and a head; f) introducing the shafts of the screws through the holes drilled in the bone and into the screw holes and rotating the screws to cause clamping of the bone between the heads of the screws and the nail; g) decoupling the jig from the nail; h) coupling the jig at a second location on the nail longitudinally displaced from the first location; i) using the jig to drill holes through the bone in alignment with the remainder of the threaded screw holes; j) decoupling the jig from the nail; and k) introducing the shaft of the screws through the holes drilled in the bone and into the remainder of the screw holes.