Surgical instrument for fitting an osteosynthesis clip

A surgical instrument for implanting a U-shaped osteosynthesis clip having two lateral legs joined together at their respective proximal ends by a crossbar, said crossbar and the proximal portions of said two lateral legs forming a proximal region of said clip, said instrument comprising:

• at least one housing intended to temporarily receive said proximal region of said clip, the distal ends of said two lateral legs protruding out of said instrument,
• at least blocking means able to prevent translational movement of said crossbar in the proximal and distal directions,
• at least rotation-proofing means preventing the clip from rotating about its crossbar,
• at least spreader means able to collaborate with said proximal region of said clip in order to increase the distance between the distal ends of the two lateral legs, said spreader means comprising a stop-forming structure located inside the U formed by the clip, in the proximal region thereof, said structure bearing against the proximal portion of each of said lateral legs, said structure being able to increase in size in the transverse direction in order to spread said distal ends of the two lateral legs apart, said structure comprising two adjacent lugs able to be moved relative to one another in the transverse direction, and an insert able to be accommodated temporarily between said two lugs,
• said instrument comprising at least one pair of tongs comprising two arms joined together at their proximal ends by a joining bridge, the two arms being parallel when not subjected to any stress loading, said two arms being able to be brought closer together and to form between them a non-zero angle under the effect of pressure applied to each of them toward the other, each of said two lugs being situated on one of said two arms, facing one another,
• wherein said insert is a rod the proximal end of which passes through the center of said joining bridge and the distal end of which is accommodated between said two lugs.