A minimally invasive surgical system for implanting pedicle screw assemblies to be conncted b a spinal rod is disclosed. In one form, the system includes a plutality of holding mechanisms (141) for the pedicle scew assemblies, each holding mechanism (141) for being inserted through an incision and configured to receive tools along an axis thereof for driving a scew anchor of the pedicle screw assembly into a vertebra and securing the spinal rod thereto and a rod inserter (140) that is configured to adjustably hold the rod and insert the rod through a common incision with one of the holding mechanisms for being fed into position in an initial direction that is transverse to the axes of the holding mechanisms.
