Patent ID: 7125423

Claim:
An intercalary prosthesis to span a space in the shaft of a long bone between native proximal and distal ends of the long bone, the prosthesis comprising: a proximal stem component adapted to be received in the intramedullary canal of the proximal portion of the long bone; a distal stem component adapted to be received in the intramedullary canal of the distal portion of the long bone; a first intercalary segment including a first end, a second end and a substantially cylindrical one-piece outer surface sized and shaped to replace a portion of the shaft of the long bone; a second intercalary segment including a first end, a second end and a substantially cylindrical one-piece outer surface sized and shaped to replace a portion of the shaft of the long bone; one of the intercalary segments having a male portion at one end and the other of the intercalary segments having a female portion at one end; the stem components and the intercalary segments having mating posts and bores for securing the stem components to the intercalary segments; the female portion being capable of receiving the male portion to connect the first and second intercalary segments together, the connected first and second intercalary segments being adapted to span the space in the shaft of the long bone; wherein the male and female portions are shaped and positioned to allow the male portion to be moved in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axes of the first and second intercalary segments into the female portion after the first intercalary segment and proximal stem component have been secured together and to the native proximal end of the long bone and after the second intercalary segment and distal stem component have been secured together and to the native distal end of the same long bone without distracting the native proximal end and native distal end of the long bone in the proximal-distal direction.