Surgical tool and method for passing pilot-line sutures through spinal vertebrae

• US 6,423,071 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2000
• Issued: 07/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kevin Jon Lawson
• Original Assignee: Kevin Jon Lawson
• Inventors: Lawson, Kevin Jon
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jeffrey A.
• Application Number:
  US09/624,724
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 606/1, 606/53, 606/86, 606/103, 254/134.3 R, 254/134.3 FT
• US Class Current: 606/103
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0469 Suturing instruments for use in minimally invasive surgery, e.g. endoscopic surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0485 Devices or means, e.g. loops, for capturing the suture thread and threading it through an opening of a suturing instrument or needle eyelet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/7053 with parts attached to bones or to each other by flexible wires, straps, sutures or cables
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/06019 by means of a suture-receiving lateral eyelet machined in the needle lateral opening for attaching suture to suture anchor A61B2017/0414
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/06042 located close to needle tip
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0608 J-shaped

Abstract

A method for installing spine-stabilization components comprises directing a long plastic flexible tool through a sublaminar space of a human spine vertebrae inside the spinal canal. Such tool enters the sublaminar space of a particular one of the human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with an adjacent vertebrae. It exits the sublaminar space of the particular one of the human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with another opposite-side adjacent vertebrae. A suture is threaded through an eye of the tool. The suture is pulled back through the sublaminar space by withdrawing the long plastic flexible tool. The suture is detached from the long plastic flexible tool. A pulled-through part of the suture is attached to a spinal-fixation wire or cable. The suture is then usable as a pilot-line to draw the spinal-fixation wire or cable through the sublaminar space. The spinal-fixation wire or cable is used to anchor a spinal-fixation system.

Claims

1. A spine-stabilization surgical tool, comprising:

a curved rod with a small enough diameter and long enough length to be passed through a sublaminar space of a human spine vertebrae inside the spinal canal;

a loop disposed at a distal end of the rod and able to pass through said sublaminar space without damage to the spinal cord, and for providing a way to draw back a suture through said sublaminar space; and

a handle disposed at a near end of the rod and providing for the steerage and penetration pressure necessary for a surgeon to direct the loop through said sublaminar space of a single one of said human spine vertebrae;

wherein, the rod has a stiffness suitable for the handle to push the loop through said sublaminar space of a human spine vertebrae inside the spinal canal, and said suture is used as a pilot-line to draw through a cable or wire in a spinal fixation system.

2. The spine-stabilization surgical tool of claim 1, wherein:

the rod comprises polyethylene and is about one millimeter in diameter.

3. The spine-stabilization surgical tool of claim 1, wherein:

the loop comprises polyethylene and is about one-and-half millimeters in diameter.

4. The spine-stabilization surgical tool of claim 1, wherein:

the rod, loop, and handle are all molded from a single piece of polyethylene.

5. A method for installing spine-stabilization components, the method comprising the steps of:

directing a long plastic flexible tool through a sublaminar space of a human spine vertebrae inside the spinal canal;

entering said sublaminar space of a particular one of said human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with an adjacent vertebrae;

exiting said sublaminar space of said particular one of said human spine vertebrae posteriorly from the intervertebral gap with another opposite-side adjacent vertebrae;

threading a suture through an eye of said tool;

pulling said suture back through said sublaminar space by withdrawing said long plastic flexible tool;

detaching said suture from said long plastic flexible tool;

attaching a pulled-through part of said suture to a spinal-fixation wire or cable; and

using said suture as a pilot-line to draw said spinal-fixation wire or cable through said sublaminar space;

wherein, said spinal-fixation wire or cable is used to anchor a spinal-fixation system.