Patent ID: 7611537

Claim:
A method, comprising: performing a medical procedure on a spinal segment including a first vertebra in contact with a spinal disk and a second vertebra in contact with the spinal disk, the spinal disk being positioned in an intervertebral disk space; forming a passage including a first passage portion extending in an anterior-posterior direction toward an anterior portion of the first vertebra from an extradiscal opening through a posterior boundary of the first vertebra, a second passage portion extending from the first passage portion and passing through the intervertebral disk space and into the second vertebra, and a third passage portion extending from the second passage portion in the anterior-posterior direction toward a posterior boundary of the second vertebra; inserting a flexible tubular device into the passage and positioning a first end portion of the tubular device in the first passage portion in the anterior-posterior direction, positioning a central portion of the tubular device in the second passage portion and extending through the intervertebral disk space, and positioning a second end portion of the tubular device in the third passage portion in the anterior-posterior direction; and while the tubular device is positioned in the passage, at least partially filling the tubular device with a fluid material and expanding the first and second end portions within the first and third passage portions, respectively, to conform with the vertebral structure bordering said first and third passage portions and expanding the central portion of the tubular device within the second passage portion and ballooning the central portion to provide a bulge in the intervertebral disk space with the first and second end portions extending in the anterior-posterior direction and the central portion extending through the intervertebral disk space to provide a spinal prosthetic structure having a C-shaped configuration.