Joint replacement methods and apparatus

Abstract

Apparatus and surgical techniques provide alternative cutting fixtures and other features to improve bone resection accuracy and joint stability. According to one embodiment, stabilizers are removably attached to a cutting guide to temporarily lengthen the surface against which a saw or other cutting device rests. Another embodiment provides differently shaped saw blades, having curved distal ends and right-angle bends applicable to box cuts of the type associated with cruciate sacrifice knee-replacement surgery. Methods are also disclosed whereby the box cuts, distal and posterior augment cuts may be approached from a distal perspective, both laterally and medially. A different embodiment provides a trial / cutting guide having flat surfaces as opposed to curved surfaces adapted for articulation within a joint. Yet a further alternative embodiment teaches a device for determining the joint line relative to a tibia using the fibula as reference.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 308,046, filed Dec. 2, 2002; which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 159,168, filed Sep. 23, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,687; which claims priority of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 059,804, filed Sep. 23, 1997. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 308,046 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 300,665, filed Apr. 27, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,259, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08 / 937,216, filed Sep. 18, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,559, the entire content of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention concerns arthroplasty, and, more particularly, resides in improved cutting guides and techniques to better assist a surgeon in preparing a bone, for example, to receive an implant. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Wh...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0005] This invention extends and, in certain instances, improves upon, apparatus and methods disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,361, which relates to combination trial/cutting guides, and methods of using the same, in various orthopedic joint situations such as

Problems solved by technology

Cutting blocks are also typically used in revision procedures, though bone deficiency often renders stabilization of the block impossible.

Though such approaches improve bone cutting accuracy, there remains an unacceptable margin of error, the correction of which in some cases requiring a freehand shaping of the bone.

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