Patellar clamping instrument

1. A clamping instrument comprising:

a pair of handles movably coupled together;

a patella support portion operatively connected to the pair of handles via a bottom clamping arm and configured to engage a first side of a patella, the patella support portion including a first pair of flanges each configured to engage a first and second tendon associated with the patella; and

a reamer guide configured to engage a second side of the patella, the reamer guide including a second pair of flanges each configured to engage said first and second tendons associated with the patella;

wherein the clamping instrument is configured to operably engage said first and second tendons associated with the patella between the first and second pairs of flanges by application of a squeezing motion to the pair of handles to bring each handle toward the other.

2. The clamping instrument of claim 1 , wherein the patella support portion includes a concave-shaped gripping region configured to engage a convex portion of the patella.

3. The clamping instrument of claim 2 , wherein the gripping region includes a textured surface treatment configured to grip the patella.

4. The clamping instrument of claim 1 , wherein the tendons are the quadriceps and patellar tendons.

5. The clamping instrument of claim 1 , wherein the reamer guide is detachably connected to the clamping instrument.

6. The clamping instrument of claim 1 , wherein said pair of handles are biased apart by a compression leaf spring.

7. The clamping instrument of claim 1 , further comprising a sliding top clamp arm which is slidable up and down on a reamer support column of said bottom clamping arm.

8. The clamping instrument of claim 7 , wherein said sliding top clamp arm is pivotably coupled to a lower handle of said pair of handles.

9. A system for clamping a patella, comprising:

a patellar clamp, comprising:

a pair of handles movably coupled together; a patella support portion operatively connected to the pair of handles via a bottom clamping arm and configured to engage a first side of a patella, the patella support portion including a first pair of flanges each configured to engage a first and second tendon associated with the patella; and

a plurality of reamer guides, each reamer guide of said plurality having a different diameter than each other reamer guide of said plurality, wherein each reamer guide is configured to engage a second side of the patella, each reamer guide including a second pair of flanges configured to engage said first and second tendons associated with the patella.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein each reamer guide of said plurality of reamer guides is detachably connectable to said patellar clamp via a reamer guide mounting bracket.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said reamer guide mounting bracket comprises: a frontal opening communicating with an internal cavity configured to receive a portion of a reamer guide mounting stem; and a spring-loaded plunger assembly having an elongated plunger with an operating button and spring.

12. The system of claim 9 , said patellar clamp further comprising a sliding top clamp arm which is slidable up and down on a reamer support column of said bottom clamping arm.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said sliding top clamp arm is pivotably coupled to a lower handle of said pair of handles.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the patella support portion includes a concave-shaped gripping region configured to engage a convex portion of the patella.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the gripping region includes a textured surface treatment configured to enhance gripping the patella.