An improved surgical instrument for performing an anterior cervical interbody arthrodesis includes a template head and a handle connected by a stem. The head has a predetermined thickness and a plurality of depth indicating lines marked on one of the surfaces thereof. The handle is grasped by a surgeon and the template head is inserted into a space previously occupied by an intervertebrated disc after removal of the disc by the surgeon. The depth of penetration of the head into the space is determined from the depth indication lines and the width of the space determined from the thickness of the template head. The head of the device is layed on an exposed iliac crest of the patient to provide a template for removing the desired thickness of bone graft. The removed bone graft is layed on the flat surface of the head and sized in thickness by the indication lines in relationship to the depth of the space previously measured the indication lines on the head. This produces an accurately sized bone graft in both length and thickness which is then placed in the space between the end plates of spaced vertebral bodies to be fused thereby.
