Joint osteotomy system and method

#The ankle is a joint that acts much like a hinge. The joint is formed by the union of three bones. The ankle bone is the talus. The top of the talus fits inside a socket that is formed by the lower end of the tibia and the fibula, the small bone of the lower leg. Arthritis, bone degeneration, and/or injury can cause ankle joint deterioration resulting in pain, reduced range of motion, and decreased quality of life. In many cases, physicians are recommending ankle replacement surgery with an implant as an option.

#A primary ankle replacement surgery can include replacement of portions of one or more of the bones of the ankle with one or more implants. The primary ankle replacement surgery can correct misalignments, deformities, and other issues of the ankle joint. In some cases, a revision surgery is necessary to correct additional deformities, misalignments, or other issues of the ankle joint not corrected during a primary ankle replacement surgery and/or that develop after the primary ankle replacement surgery.

#In various embodiments, a system includes a first spacer sized and configured to be received within a joint space of a first bone. The first spacer defines a body extending between a first surface and a second surface. The system further includes an adjustable guide includes a guide adapter and a guide body. The guide adapter is configured to couple the adjustable guide to the first spacer. The guide body is adjustable along a first axis with respect to the guide adapter.

#The features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully disclosed in, or rendered obvious by the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, which are to be considered together with the accompanying drawings wherein like numbers refer to like parts and further wherein:

#FIG. 1 illustrates the bones of a human foot and ankle;

#FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic representations of a scanned image of a human foot and ankle joint;

#This description of the exemplary embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description. In the description, relative terms such as “lower,” “upper,” “horizontal,” “vertical,”, “above,” “below,” “up,” “down,” “top,” “bottom,” “proximal,” “distal,” “superior,” “inferior,” “medial,” and “lateral” as well as derivative thereof (e.g., “horizontally,” “downwardly,” “upwardly,” etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawing under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms concerning attachments, coupling and the like, such as “connected,” refer to a relationship wherein structures are secured or attached to one another either directly or indirectly through intervening structures, as well as both movable or rigid attachments or relationships, unless expressly described otherwise. Like elements have been given like numerical designations to facilitate an understanding of the present subject matter.

#As used herein, the term “substantially” denotes elements having a recited relationship (e.g., parallel, perpendicular, aligned, etc.) within acceptable manufacturing tolerances. For example, as used herein, the term “substantially parallel” is used to denote elements that are parallel or that vary from a parallel arrangement within an acceptable margin of error, such as +/−5°, although it will be recognized that greater and/or lesser deviations can exist based on manufacturing processes and/or other manufacturing requirements.

#The disclosed systems and methods may advantageously utilize custom manufactured surgical instruments, guides, and/or fixtures that are based upon a patient's anatomy to maximize the accuracy of the guides and/or surgical instruments during a surgical procedure. These custom instruments, guides, and/or fixtures may be created by imaging a patient's anatomy with a computer tomography (“CT”) scanner, a magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) machine, or like medical imaging technology prior to surgery and utilizing these images to create patient-specific instruments, guides, and/or fixtures. This is generally termed as a preoperative assessment or plan and may be used in conjunction with intra-operative tools to accurately implement such a plan. Exemplary preoperative assessments or plans may allow a surgeon to specify the size, position, and/or orientation of a patient's anatomical components and/or subsequent implant components within the joint or bone at issue based upon preoperative CT or MRI images. Of course, final component size and position may be determined intra-operatively through direct visualization of the implants or various sizing instrumentation by the surgeon with or without the aid of fluoroscopy.