US 11,737,798 B2
Surgical screw system
Stephanie Anne Bare, Naples, FL (US); and Christopher Kreulen, Sacramento, CA (US)
Assigned to Arthrex, Inc., Naples, FL (US)
Filed by ARTHREX, INC., Naples, FL (US)
Filed on May 18, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/323,581.
Application 17/323,581 is a continuation of application No. 14/874,893, filed on Oct. 5, 2015, granted, now 11,020,157.
Prior Publication US 2021/0267652 A1, Sep. 2, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61B 17/80 (2006.01); A61B 17/86 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/8014 (2013.01) [A61B 17/8057 (2013.01); A61B 17/863 (2013.01); A61B 17/8605 (2013.01)] 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A surgical method, comprising:
positioning a bone plate against a fractured bone including a first bone fragment and a second bone fragment;
drilling a pilot hole in the fractured bone;
inserting a surgical screw through an opening of the bone plate such that the surgical screw extends across a fracture line between the first bone fragment and the second bone fragment and through the second bone fragment of the fractured bone, wherein a shaft portion of the surgical screw comprises:
a) a longitudinal axis,
b) a shaft thread having a minor diameter and a shaft pitch, wherein the shaft thread comprises a proximal portion having a proximal pitch and a distal portion having a distal pitch,
c) a proximal region including the proximal portion of the shaft thread and a proximal end, and
d) a distal region including the distal portion of the shaft thread and a distal end, wherein the shaft thread extends along an entire length of the shaft portion from the proximal end to the distal end, and the distal pitch of the distal thread is larger than the proximal pitch of the proximal thread, and
e) a head portion including a head thread that is an extension of the shaft thread of the shaft portion, wherein a head pitch of the head thread of the head portion has the same pitch as the proximal pitch of the shaft thread at the proximal end of the shaft portion, and a diameter of the head portion is greater than a greatest diameter of the shaft portion,
wherein the minor diameter of the shaft thread of the shaft portion decreases in a direction towards the longitudinal axis of the shaft portion from the proximal end of the shaft portion to a position intermediate the proximal end and the distal end of the shaft portion such that the shaft portion tapers inwardly towards the longitudinal axis of the shaft portion, and the taper terminates intermediate the proximal end and the distal end of the shaft portion;
cutting a path through the pilot hole into the fractured bone with the surgical screw;
moving the distal region of the shaft portion through the second bone fragment to provide compression between the first bone fragment and the second bone fragment;
engaging the opening of the bone plate with the head thread of the head portion of the surgical screw to substantially lock the bone plate to the fractured bone to stabilize the bone plate relative to the fractured bone; and
locking the head thread of the head portion in the threaded opening of the bone plate.