Patent ID: 8702717

Claim:
A method for inserting a guide pin into a glenoid of a patient's scapula, the glenoid having a glenoid surface, the scapula including an anterior surface, a posterior surface, a superior surface, and an inferior surface, the anterior surface of the scapula defining an anterior edge of the glenoid, the posterior surface of the scapula defining a posterior edge of the glenoid, the superior surface of the scapula defining a superior edge of the glenoid, and the inferior surface of the scapula defining an inferior edge of the glenoid, the method comprising the steps of: selecting an orthopaedic alignment guide from a set of orthopaedic alignment guides of different sizes, wherein the different sizes of orthopaedic alignment guides in the set can accommodate different glenoid sizes, the set comprising: a first orthopaedic alignment guide comprising: a first guide body and a first referencing arm, the first guide body defining a first bore that is sized to receive the guide pin, wherein the first guide body includes a first convex bone-contacting surface with a first apex; and a second orthopaedic alignment guide comprising: a second guide body and a second referencing arm, the second guide body defining a second bore that is sized to receive the guide pin, wherein the second guide body includes a second convex bone-contacting surface with a second apex, the first convex bone-contacting surface having a different curvature than the second convex bone-contacting surface, wherein the first bore has a first longitudinal axis and the second bore has a second longitudinal axis, with the first longitudinal axis being offset from the first apex and/or the second longitudinal axis being offset from the second apex; maneuvering the selected orthopaedic alignment guide such that the guide body of the selected orthopaedic alignment guide is positioned against the glenoid surface with the referencing arm of the selected orthopaedic alignment guide abutting the inferior surface of the scapula; and inserting the guide pin through the bore of the guide body of the selected orthopaedic alignment guide and into the glenoid surface to form a hole, wherein despite differences in glenoid sizes which affects which orthopaedic alignment guide is selected from the first orthopaedic alignment guide and the second orthopaedic alignment guide a consistent direction of insertion of the guide pin into the glenoid surface can be maintained and a consistent vertical spacing between the inferior edge of the glenoid and the hole can be maintained during said inserting.