SURGICAL LOCATOR
A surgical locator and associated methods are presented. The surgical locator includes a shaft insertable into a surgical passage to maintain access to and indicate orientation of the surgical passage.
1 . A surgical locator comprising:
an elongated shaft extending from a proximal end to a distal end; and
a barb formed at the distal end, the barb extending proximally from the distal end and terminating at a free end spaced from the shaft, the barb having a free state width corresponding to its maximum dimension measured perpendicular to the shaft when the barb is unconstrained in a free state condition, the barb being displaceable toward the shaft upon the application of a force toward the shaft and the barb being able to elastically return toward its free state condition after the force is removed.
2 . The surgical locator of claim 1 wherein the barb is made of a flexible monofilament.
3 . The surgical locator of claim 1 wherein the shaft and barb are made of a continuous piece of flexible monofilament
4 . The surgical locator of claim 3 wherein the material is heat processed to set the barb.
5 . The surgical locator of claim 4 wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of superelastic materials and heat settable polymers.
6 . The surgical locator of claim 5 wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of nitinol and nylon.
7 . The surgical locator of claim 1 wherein the barb is sufficiently elastically deformable to permit its insertion into a passage smaller than its free state width and be elastically biased toward its free state condition to grip the passage.
8 . The surgical locator of claim 1 wherein the barb is sufficiently elastically and plastically deformable to permit its insertion into a passage smaller than its free state width and deform to a straitened configuration in which the free end of the barb is distal of the distal end of the shaft upon being withdrawn from the tunnel without the barb separating from the shaft.
9 . A surgical method comprising:
inserting a distal end of a surgical locator into a passage in a body tissue to engage a barb formed on the distal end of the surgical locator with the passage, the barb having a free state width wider than a portion of the passage such that the barb deforms elastically upon insertion into the passage and is elastically biased against the passage; and
subsequently referencing the surgical locator to locate the passage.
10 . The surgical method of claim 9 wherein inserting a distal end of a surgical locator into a passage includes guiding the surgical locator through a guide instrument having a guide feature aligned with the passage.
11 . The surgical method of claim 9 further comprising before the step of inserting a distal end of a surgical locator into a passage:
placing the guide instrument relative to a surgical site;
guiding a tunnel forming instrument with the guide to form a bone tunnel.
12 . The surgical method of claim 11 further comprising:
guiding the tunnel forming instrument through skin, soft tissue, and into bone to form the bone tunnel.
13 . The surgical method of claim 12 wherein the bone includes bone adjacent the metatarsophalangeal joint of a human foot and the method further comprises:
guiding the tunnel forming instrument to form a first bone tunnel in a metatarsal bone and a second bone tunnel in a proximal phalanx; and
inserting a surgical locator into each of the metatarsal bone tunnel and the proximal phalanx bone tunnel.
14 . The surgical method of claim 9 further comprising after the step of subsequently referencing the surgical locator:
pulling the surgical locator proximally to remove it from the passage.
15 . The surgical method of claim 14 wherein pulling the surgical locator causes the barb to straighten.
16 . A surgical method comprising:
placing a guide instrument relative to a surgical site;
guiding a tunnel forming instrument with the guide instrument through soft tissue to form a soft tissue passage and into bone to form a bone tunnel, the passage through the soft tissue being in communication with the bone tunnel;
guiding a surgical locator with the guide instrument through the passage and into the bone tunnel until a barb formed on the distal end of the surgical locator is engaged with the bone tunnel;
removing the guide instrument from the surgical site while the surgical locator remains in the passage and bone tunnel; and
subsequently referencing the surgical locator to locate the bone tunnel.
17 . The surgical method of claim 16 wherein the bone includes bone adjacent the metatarsophalangeal joint of a human foot and wherein the step of guiding a tunnel forming instrument includes guiding the tunnel forming instrument to form a first bone tunnel in a metatarsal bone and a second bone tunnel in a proximal phalanx and wherein the step of guiding a surgical locator includes guiding a first surgical locator into the first bone tunnel and a second surgical locator into the second bone tunnel.
18 . The surgical method of claim 16 further comprising:
pulling the surgical locator proximally to remove it from the passage.
19 . The surgical method of claim 18 wherein pulling the surgical locator causes the barb to straighten.
20 . The surgical method of claim 16 wherein subsequently referencing the surgical locator comprises engaging a device with the shaft of the surgical locator and sliding the device along the shaft to locate the bone tunnel.