Patent ID: 7780709

Claim:
A method for stabilizing a spinal motion segment, comprising: positioning a spacer between adjacent upper and lower transverse processes of the spinal motion segment, the spacer including: a compressible spacer body having opposite upper and lower ends; said upper end having a first pair of arms and a first recessed surface disposed therebetween forming a concave upper saddle that contacts an inferior surface of the upper transverse process; said lower end having a second pair of arms and a second recessed surface disposed therebetween forming a concave lower saddle that contacts a superior surface of the lower transverse process; wherein the disposing comprises disposing the spacer such that: a sagittal reference plane extends transverse to the upper and lower saddles and the upper and lower transverse processes with a central axis of the spacer body disposed in the sagittal reference plane; wherein, when viewed in from a posterior direction along the sagittal plane, the upper and lower saddles are disposed on opposite sides of the central axis so as be non-overlappingly laterally offset; thereafter, dynamically stabilizing the spinal motion segment with the spacer resiliently compressing between the transverse processes in response to extension of the spinal motion segment.