Patent ID: 8241337

Claim:
An occipital-cervical spinal fixation system for a patient, comprising: a monolithic plate having an anterior surface and a posterior surface, the plate comprising: a central portion defining at least one transversely extending central bore, wherein the at least one central bore extends along a longitudinal axis between the anterior and posterior surfaces, wherein at least a portion of the anterior surface of the central portion is configured to contact a portion of an occipital bone of the patient, and wherein the central portion of the plate is in a first plane; a first arm, wherein at least a portion of the first arm extends away from the central portion substantially parallel to the central portion before extending downwardly and away from the central portion, wherein the first arm defines a first arm bore near a distal end of the first arm, wherein the first arm bore extends along a longitudinal axis between the anterior and posterior surface, wherein the distal end of the first arm is in a second plane that is at a first acute angle relative to the first plane, wherein at least a portion of the first arm that extends downwardly and away from the central portion is in a third plane, wherein the third plane is positioned at an acute angle relative to the first plane and the second plane, and wherein at least a portion of the anterior surface of the distal end of the first arm is configured to contact a portion of a vertebra of the patient; and a plurality of bone screws, wherein at least one bone screw of the plurality of bone screws is insertable through the first arm bore and securable to a vertebra of the patient, and wherein at least one bone screw of the plurality of bone screws is insertable through the at least one central bore and securable to the occipital bone of the patient.