Elbow arthroplasty instrumentation and surgical procedure

A surgical procedure of modifying injured or diseased geometry existing at the distal end of a humerus in preparation for fixation thereto of a replacement for an elbow joint comprising the steps of:

• (a) forming a through hole in the superior aspect of the olecranon fossa of the humerus aligned with the longitudinal axis thereof and in communication with the humeral canal;
• (b) inserting into the humeral canal via the through hole formed in step (a) the stem of a distal cut guide tool including a platform having a planar guide surface until the planar guide surface is generally coplanar with the junction of the medial epicondyle and the trochlea such that, in an anterior view, the planar guide surface generally assumes the normal valgus angle of a healthy humerus and such that, in a lateral view, the planar guide surface generally assumes the anterior angle of inclination of a healthy humerus;
• (c) forming a first resected surface by sawing into the distal end of the humerus along a plane coextensive with the planar guide surface and generally parallel to the anatomical center of rotation of the elbow joint and removing the excess bone;
• (d) withdrawing the distal cut guide tool from the humerus;
• (e) inserting into the humeral canal via the through hole formed in step (a) the stem of a broach and chamfer cut guide tool including a slotted chamfer guide block integral with the head of the stem until the chamfer guide block is contiguously positioned on the first resected surface formed in step (c);
• (f) forming a plurality of second resected surfaces by sawing into the distal end of the humerus as guided by the slotted chamfer guide block;
• (g) withdrawing the broach and chamfer cut guide tool from the humerus;
• (h) removing the excess bone resulting from step (f);
• and
• (i) removing an excess amount of anterior and posterior bone adjacent the second resected surfaces for reception of the trial prosthesis on the modified distal end of the humerus.