Paragraph Number

2

Various conditions may affect skeletal joints such as the deterioration, elongation, shortening, or rupture of soft tissues, cartilage, and/or bone associated with the joint and consequent laxity, pain, and/or deformity. One may desire to change the angular alignment of a bone or a portion of a bone to restore function and/or reduce pain. One may likewise desire to fuse a joint to fix the bones of the joint in a better angular alignment or reduce pain caused by motion at the joint. One may likewise desire to support a fractured bone to allow healing of the fracture to occur. One may likewise desire to support an implant on a bone. To this end, various osteotomy procedures, joint fusion procedures, fracture fixation procedures, joint resurfacing procedures, implants and instruments have been proposed. Such procedures have been performed throughout the body to make various angular adjustments in, fuse joints associated with, fuse fractures associated with, and/or resurface articular surfaces of tibia, fibula, femur, pelvis, humerus, ulna, radius, carpal, metacarpal, tarsal, metatarsal, phalangeal and other bones.

Added by DJM 12 2021