Patent ID: 8021368

Claim:
A method for providing instrumentation, implants, and information for a total knee arthroplasty procedure comprising: providing a total knee arthroplasty femoral implant and a distal femoral cutting guide, the distal femoral cutting guide having a slot adapted to guide and receive an oscillating sawblade to create a distal cut on a distal end of a distal femur, the distal cut having a curvilinear shaped anterior periphery, the slot having a curvilinear shaped posterior periphery substantially matching the shape of the anterior periphery of the distal cut, wherein the shape of the posterior periphery of the slot is based upon preoperatively acquired digital image data; providing a surgeon with information on a method to perform the total knee arthroplasty procedure using the distal femoral cutting guide, the oscillating sawblade, and the femoral implant, the method including: positioning the distal femoral cutting guide against the femur immediately adjacent the anterior periphery of the distal cut to be made, engaging the sawblade with the slot, and creating the distal cut on the femur using the slot to operably guide the sawblade; prior to creating the distal cut, creating markings in the distal end of the femur using a marking element; removing the distal femoral cutting guide after creating the distal cut on the femur and disposing of the distal femoral cutting guide so that it is not used as a part of another total knee arthroplasty procedure; following removal of the distal femoral cutting guide, attaching a second cutting guide to the femur, wherein an anterior to posterior location and an internal-external orientation of the second cutting guide is determined by operably referencing the markings on the femur; using the second cutting guide to create at least two of an anterior cut, an anterior chamfer cut, a posterior chamfer cut, and a posterior cut on the distal femur; and implanting the femoral implant on the distal femur.