| CPC A61B 17/0401 (2013.01) [A61B 17/0469 (2013.01); A61B 17/0485 (2013.01); A61M 29/02 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0409 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0412 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0414 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0427 (2013.01); A61B 2017/044 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0441 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0445 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0453 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0458 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0464 (2013.01); A61B 2017/0496 (2013.01)] | 13 Claims |

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1. A surgical method, comprising:
advancing a distal tip of an elongate shaft into a bone to form a hole in the bone, the elongate shaft extending through an inner lumen of an implantable dilator that is located proximal to the distal tip of the elongate shaft, and the elongate shaft extending through an inner lumen of an implantable suture anchor that is located proximal to the dilator;
after the hole is formed, continuing to advance the distal tip of the elongate shaft into the bone such that the dilator widens the hole formed by the distal tip of the elongate shaft;
with the dilator located in the hole, advancing the suture anchor distally relative to the dilator and the bone such that a thread of the suture anchor forms a threaded path in a bone surface defining the hole and a suture is trapped between the thread and the bone surface; and
after the distal advancement of the suture anchor, removing the elongate shaft from the inner lumen of the dilator and from the inner lumen of the suture anchor;
wherein after the removal of the elongate shaft, the dilator and the suture anchor remain in the bone hole with the suture located entirely proximal to the dilator.
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