Bone plates and methods for provisional fixation using same

Abstract

Bone plates with an upper surface, a bone contacting surface, and a plurality of holes extending through the upper and bone contact surfaces for receiving bone screws are disclosed. Each hole interchangeably accepts a compression screw for compression of a fracture and a locking screw that threads into the bone plate. Provisional fixation of a bone plate to a bone may be accomplished using provisional fixation pins through the screw-receiving holes of the bone plate.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 673,833, filed Sep. 29, 2003, now pending, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention relates generally to apparatuses for fixation of parts of a fractured bone, and, more particularly, to bone plates and bone plate assemblies for stabilization and compression of parts of a fractured bone and provisional fixation using holes in bone plates. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Bone fractures lead to complex tissue injuries involving both the bone and the surrounding soft tissue. Treated in a conservative way, fractures often result in malalignment or non-unions and may also lead to stiffness of adjacent joints. To reduce the occurrence of these problems, open reduction and internal fixation of the bone can be carried out. Anatomical reduction and stable internal fixation with plates and screws are very successful in treating b...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Treated in a conservative way, fractures often result in malalignment or non-unions and may also lead to stiffness of adjacent joints.

As the relationship between the locking screws and the plate is fixed, locking screws provide a high resistance to shear or torsional forces, but locking screws have a limited capability to compress bone fragments.

Furthermore, existing plates with openings that accept locking screws typically only accept certain screw sizes with specified types of screw heads.

This limits the angulation of the screw, and the thread form is not optimal for lagging bone pieces together.

This may be limiting in certain cases, for example with a distal femur fracture where a surgeon desires to lag the condyles.

Because such existing plates do not accept large screws with spherical screw heads, surgeons are limited to lagging fragments outside the plate or using screws which are poorly designed for this application.

Because the slots are only partially threaded, the locking screws may not be able to maintain the fixed angular relationship between the screws and plate under physiological loads.

This can result in loss of fixation or loss of established intraoperative plate orientation.

Because of the slot geometry, translation of the plate with compression screws may be limited to a single direction, which may be disadvantageous in reduction and manipulation of fragments.

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