Distal femoral cutting guide apparatus with anterior or posterior referencing for use in knee joint replacement surgery

A distal femoral cutting instrument for preparing a patient's distal femur to receive a femoral prosthesis, the femur having anterior and posterior distal femoral surfaces, comprising:

• a) an intramedullary rod for referencing the patient's intramedullary canal by aligning the rod with the patient's intramedullary canal;
• b) a valgus block having a plurality of flat surfaces and including at least anterior and posterior parallel flat surfaces and a distal flat surface perpendicular to the anterior and posterior surfaces;
• c) a bore in the valgus block that extends between two of the flat surfaces, forming an acute angle therewith, said bore being sized and shaped to register upon the intramedullary rod;
• d) a distal femoral cutting block that removably attaches to the valgus block, the cutting block having a flat surface for guiding a blade or saw during cutting of the distal femur;
• e) the cutting block including a connector thereon for affixing the distal femoral cutting block to the anterior cortical bone of the patients femur;
• f) a gauge that forms a sliding connection with the distal femoral cutting block for measuring the thickness of the patient's distal femur between the anterior and posterior surfaces thereof;
• g) the gauge including indicia for enabling a surgeon to determine the thickness of the patient's distal femur, said indicia including independent anterior and posterior referencing indicia, allowing the surgeon to measure the distal femur by selecting the anterior or the posterior referencing indicia.