The present invention is generally directed to a reduced shock breakaway screw for use with medical implants and the like having improved solid wall geometry in the breakaway area between the upper and lower portions of the set screw. This improved geometry serves to slow down the fracturing process during shearing, thereby increasing the proportion of energy dissipated as heat from plastic deformation of the material to the amount of energy released as kinetic energy from elastic rebound.

Orthopedic fixation devices and methods of installing the same. The orthopedic fixation device may include a coupling element and a bone fastener, whereby the bone fastener can be loaded into the coupling element through the bottom of a bore in the coupling element. A retaining clip disposed below the fastener in an annular channel of the coupling element has an inner diameter which is less than a maximum diameter of the head of the bone fastener.

A locking system can comprise a screw head without threads and a thread created only inside a bore of a bone plate. The machining of thread geometry can thus pertain to the screw body, while the screw head can be formed by curved surfaces and contact surfaces by simple machining process. A plurality of screws can be implemented, and each bone plate can have a larger number of bores for accepting the screws than the number of screws. The said locking screw can be used with other bone plates having continuous or partial threads created inside their bores.

A fusion device assembly for fusion of a joint, including a fusion device, including a distal end, a proximal end, a radially outward facing surface including threading, a bore extending from the proximal end, at least one flute arranged proximate the distal end, and at least one aperture arranged adjacent to the at least one flute, and a reversibly connected hollow drive shaft for insertion of said device which, in a some embodiments, is hollow to allow addition of supplementary bone graft materials or products, should this be desired, without altering the position of the deployed device.

A bone fastener driver assembly with a bone fastener retention feature has an outer sleeve, a handle fixed to said outer sleeve and an inner shaft. The inner shaft has a distal end with a torque driving tip. The inner shaft is coupled to the handle and axially movable relative to the outer sleeve from a proximal disengaged position to a distal engaged position. The outer sleeve has a bone fastener retaining distal end configured to lock into an internal groove or undercut of a bone fastener screw head when the inner shaft is axially moved from the proximal disengaged position to the distal engaged position to lock the bone fastener to the driver and upon a return movement of the inner shaft to the proximal disengaged position to unlock and release the driver from the bone fastener screw head.

Bone anchor assemblies and related instrumentation are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a modular bone anchor assembly allows for a bone anchor to be driven into bone and a head or receiver member to be attached thereto at some later point in time. The bone anchor can have a smaller footprint than the complete assembly, which can improve visualization and anatomical spatial awareness during insertion of the bone anchor and during other surgical steps performed prior to attaching the head or receiver member to the bone anchor. A variety of modular head types are disclosed, as are various instruments for driving a bone anchor, attaching a head to a bone anchor, removing a head from a bone anchor, and making a unilateral attachment to a head of a bone anchor assembly. Drive interfaces for driving a bone anchor are disclosed, as are features that allow a bone anchor to act as a fixation point for soft tissue retraction, disc space distraction, derotation, and the like.

Anchor delivery systems include markings on the surfaces of the delivery device which are visually exposed to the user through openings or fenestrations in the anchor, providing visual feedback to the user on the progress of the anchor's insertion. A suture-locking plug is deformable within the anchor tip, thereby enhancing suture entrapment within the tip of the anchor. A compliant component of the handle places the handle components in tension, thereby absorbing built-in axial looseness in the handle. The handle further includes a spin cavity which allows for free spin of the inserter shaft to finalize insertion of the anchor into bone when the anchor has not been fully seated flush with or below the cortical bone surface.

The present invention is directed to a method of reducing the risk of infection following surgery utilizing the drug eluting surgical screw disclosed herein to secure an implant in an animal following surgery. The drug eluting screw includes a drug eluting component that can elute a therapeutic agent locally at the surface of the implant reducing the risk of infection.

A bone plate system and method for implanting the bone plate. The bone plate may include a head portion and a shaft portion, the shaft portion having a longitudinal axis and comprising a plurality of discrete aperture clusters. Each aperture cluster may include a non-threaded, non-locking bone fastener aperture configured to provide a polyaxial compressive construct and at least one threaded, locking bone fastener aperture. Once aligned with the bone, a first bone fastener is inserted into the bone through at least one of the non-threaded apertures in a direction normal to the longitudinal axis, compressing the bone along the longitudinal axis of the shaft portion of the bone plate. A second bone fastener is inserted into the bone through at least one of the threaded, locking bone fastener apertures in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis and securing the bone plate to the bone.

A screw element includes a screw axis, a shank for inserting in a bone, and a drive portion for engaging a screw driver. The drive portion includes a first wall defining a first recess and a second wall defining a second recess. Drive grooves are formed in the first wall and extend parallel to the screw axis. The second wall extends axially from a free end portion of the screw element to the first wall and has an inner diameter that continuously increases from the first wall towards the free end portion. A plurality of guide grooves are formed in the second wall at circumferential positions corresponding respectively to circumferential positions of the drive grooves. The guide grooves extend further radially from the screw axis than the drive grooves and guide the screw driver from the free end portion of the screw element to the drive grooves.