Patent ID: 8273112

Claim:
A bone stabilizer assembly, comprising: a fixation element configured to engage a bone and having a head portion and shank portion; a coupling element having an internal bore sized to receive the shank portion of the fixation element and a seat adapted to support the head portion of the fixation element, the coupling element further adapted to receive a stabilizer rod; a compression nut configured to be received within the internal bore of the coupling element and be rotated downwardly into the coupling element; a top saddle rotatingly attached to a bottom of the compression nut via an upwardly extending projection, the top saddle being configured to rotate freely relative to the compression nut to securely engage a top region of the stabilizer rod as the compression nut is rotated downwardly into the coupling element, wherein the top saddle is configured to tilt relative to the compression nut; and a bottom saddle movably mounted in the coupling element below the stabilizer rod, when the stabilizer rod is in the coupling element, the bottom saddle being securable within the coupling element, such that when the bottom saddle is mounted in the coupling element, the bottom saddle and the coupling element are coupled together and the coupling of the coupling element and the bottom saddle permit limited downward movement of the bottom saddle relative to the coupling element.