Patello-femoral joint implant and instrumentation

1. A method of preparing a femur for a patello-femoral implant, comprising the steps of:

a. cutting a planar anterior surface on the femur;

b. attaching a reamer guide to the planar anterior surface, the reamer guide having a wall portion, a leg connected to the wall portion, and a distal tip portion connected to the leg;

c. connecting a reamer to the distal tip portion of the reamer guide; and

d. reaming a portion of a trochlea by translating the reamer medially or laterally along the wall portion of the reamer guide, wherein the step of reaming includes pivoting a portion of the reamer about the distal tip portion of the reamer guide.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of setting the depth of the reaming step.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of setting the depth comprises providing a sleeve to the reamer, the sleeve having a bearing surface which has a diameter, the diameter of the bearing surface sets the depth of the reaming step.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

a. placing a drill guide over the planar anterior surface and reamed portion of the femur;

b. drilling a hole for an anterior peg on the planar anterior surface of the femur; and

c. drilling a hole for a distal peg on a distal surface of the femur wherein the drill guide sets the position and orientation of the holes for the anterior peg and the distal peg such that the anterior peg and distal peg are not parallel.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the planar anterior surface is angled with respect to the coronal plane.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the planar anterior surface is angled less than 10 degrees from the coronal plane.

7. A method of preparing a femur for a patello-femoral implant, comprising the steps of:

a. cutting a planar anterior surface on the femur;

b. attaching a reamer guide to the planar anterior surface, the reamer guide having a wall portion, a leg connected to the wall portion, and a distal tip portion connected to the leg;

c. engaging a distal portion of a reamer with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide; and

d. reaming a portion of a trochlea by translating the reamer along the wall portion of the reamer guide and pivoting the reamer about the distal tip portion while the distal portion of the reamer remains engaged with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the reamer guide comprises a recess in the distal tip portion of the reamer guide; and

wherein engaging the distal portion of the reamer with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide comprises inserting a distal end of the reamer into the recess in the distal tip portion of the reamer guide.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the reamer includes a connector having a spherical shape; and

wherein inserting the distal end of the reamer into the recess in the distal tip portion comprises inserting the connector of the reamer in the recess of the reamer guide.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein reaming the portion of the trochlea by translating the reamer along the wall portion of the reamer guide while the distal portion of the reamer remains engaged with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide comprises translating a proximal portion of the reamer medially or laterally along the wall portion while the distal portion of the reamer remains engaged with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the planar anterior surface is angled less than 10 degrees from the coronal plane.

12. The method of claim 7 , further comprising attaching a reamer sleeve to the reamer, the reamer sleeve being configured to engage the wall portion of the reamer guide when the distal portion of the reamer is engaged with the distal tip portion of the reamer guide to set a depth of the reaming step.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising selecting a reamer sleeve from among a plurality of reamer sleeves each configured to set a different reaming depth when the respective reamer sleeves are engaged with the wall portion;

wherein attaching a reamer sleeve comprises attaching the selected reamer sleeve to the reamer.

14. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the steps of:

a. placing a drill guide over the planar anterior surface and reamed portion of the femur;

b. drilling a hole for an anterior peg on the planar anterior surface of the femur; and

c. drilling a hole for a distal peg on a distal surface of the femur wherein the drill guide sets the position and orientation of the holes for the anterior peg and the distal peg such that the anterior peg and distal peg are not parallel.

15. The method of claim 7 , wherein the planar anterior surface is angled with respect to the coronal plane.

16. The method of claim 7 , wherein reaming the portion of the trochlea by translating the reamer along the wall portion of the reamer guide comprises translating the reamer medially or laterally along the wall portion such that a portion of the reamer remains in contact with the wall portion during translation of the reamer.

17. A method of preparing a femur for a patello-femoral implant, comprising the steps of:

a. cutting a planar anterior surface on the femur;

b. attaching a reamer guide to the planar anterior surface, the reamer guide having a wall portion, a leg connected to the wall portion, and a distal tip portion connected to the leg, the distal tip portion defining a recess;

c. placing a distal end portion of a reamer in the recess in the distal tip portion of the reamer guide; and

d. reaming a portion of a trochlea by translating a proximal portion of the reamer along the wall portion of the reamer guide such that a portion of the proximal portion of the reamer remains in contact with the wall portion during translation of the proximal portion, and pivoting the distal end portion of the reamer in the recess.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein translating the proximal portion of the reamer along the wall portion of the reamer guide comprises translating the proximal portion of the reamer guide medially or laterally along a curved path defined by the wall portion.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein attaching the reamer guide to the planar anterior surface comprises attaching a reamer guide that has a curved wall portion extending between a medial arcuate portion and a lateral arcuate portion, and a generally V-shaped leg extending from the medial arcuate portion and the lateral arcuate portion to the distal tip portion.