| 主权项 |
1. A surgical method for minimally invasive treatment of an unstable elbow comprising the steps of:
surgically installing an internal elbow hinge, said elbow hinges including a humeral plate, and ulnar plate, and a hinge arm pivotally connected to said humeral plate and fixedly connected to said ulnar plate; wherein said step of installing said internal elbow hinge comprises the steps of:
tunneling said humeral plate subcutaneously and supramuscularly in the subcutaneous fat layer adjacent the humerus, the length dimension of said humeral plate being generally substantially parallel to the length dimension of said humerus;attaching said humeral plate to said humerus, said humeral plate spanning at least the distal region of said humerus, wherein said humeral plate remains disposed in the subcutaneous fat layer and away from, but substantially parallel to said humerus once attached to said humerus;tunneling said hinge arm subcutaneously and supramuscularly in the subcutaneous fat layer between the posterior proximal ulna region and the distal end of said humeral plate through the lateral circumference of the proximal forearm;pivotally attaching said hinge arm to said distal end of said humeral plate;tunneling said ulnar plate subcutaneously and supramuscularly in the subcutaneous fat layer from the posterior proximal ulna toward the distal end of said ulna, the length dimension of said ulnar plate being generally substantially parallel to the length dimension of said ulna;attaching said ulnar plate to said ulna, said ulnar plate spanning at least the proximal region of said ulna, wherein said ulnar plate remains disposed in the subcutaneous fat layer and away from, but substantially parallel to said ulna once attached to said ulna; andattaching the end of said hinge arm adjacent to said ulnar plate to the proximal end of said ulnar plate. |
