Drill guides and inserters for bone plates having hook members

Abstract

A system for assisting a surgeon in implanting hook plate-type bone plates includes a cannulated multiple barreled drill guide, a cannulated inserter / impactor, and a cannulated fastener coupling the inserter / impactor to a bone plate. The multiple barreled drill guide facilitates the drilling of at least two parallel holes at the distal end of a bone at the correct position and angle of entry, and includes a body and two drill guide channels coupled to the body in substantially parallel orientation relative to each other, with a guide pin aperture disposed between and substantially parallel to the drill guide tubes. The inserter / impactor likewise includes a central channel accommodating the same guide pin employed to place and align the multiple barreled drill guide.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61 / 901,964, filed Nov. 8, 2013, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates, in general, to the fixation of bone fractures and, more particularly, to the fixation of bone fractures having small fragments proximate a terminal end of a bone.[0004]2. Description of Related Art[0005]Plates and screws are well accepted techniques for fixation of fractures. The standard bone plate is a planar bar of material, usually metal, having circular and / or slotted holes through which bone screws are placed. The bone plate is used to span a fracture and fixation screws are placed through holes in the bone plate positioned on either side of the fracture to secure the bone fragments the plate.[0006]One example of a fracture occurring relatively close to the end of a bone is...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a system for assisting surgeons in the implantation of hook plate-type bone plates. It includes a cannulated multiple barreled drill guide and a cannulated inserter / impactor. The drill guide is designed to guide the drilling of at least two parallel holes at the end of a bone in the correct position and angle. An optional cross-locking peg may be used through the bone for further stability. The drill guide has a guide pin aperture and a threaded aperture for attaching the inserter / impactor to the hook plate and for drilling a pilot hole for enhanced subchondral fixation. The inserter / impactor has a bottom surface contour that matches the top surface contour of the hook plate. The system simplifies the process of implanting hook plate bone plates.

Problems solved by technology

In such situations, only a very small distal fragment may be present, providing inadequate room for more than one or two screws to be placed.

Moreover, since the deep portion of this bone is a part of the overall ankle joint, screws cannot be placed through both cortices, as is commonly practice with plate / screw techniques.

These fractures are often comminuted and unstable.

However, in the case of the distal radius fractures, fixation that would produce this type of compressive loads between the articular fragments and the shaft may result in migration of the fragments, loss of length, malunions and failure.

Since it is known that thick implants close to the rim of the distal radius may often cause irritation and even rupture of important tendons and other vital structures nearby, existing volar generally plates do not extend to the distal rim.

As a result, small fractures of the distal volar rim are often not secured by these plate designs, which can result in the fragment flipping over the edge of the plate, potentially causing catastrophic loss of reduction and dislocation of the carpal bones of the wrist.

Although early designs such as the LCP Hook Plate manufactured by Synthes, Inc. wrap around the end of the bone, these types of implants do not achieve any internal purchase of the fragment to be secured, and may have very limited to no purchase overall, resulting in poor rotational stability and limited resistance to sideways drift of the terminal fragment.

For fixation of the distal radius, however, the configuration of these types of hook plates is not optimal, especially for fractures involving the volar or dorsal rim.

Since hook plates such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,177,822, configured for application to the lateral malleolus or the olecranon, promote compression against the stable fragment, in the case of distal radius fixation this would cause shortening of the fragment into the metaphyseal bone, and thus loss of articular reduction.

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