Distal femoral cutting guide

A method of positioning a femoral cutting guide on a distal end of a femur that establishes at least a first reference plane to perform a distal femoral planar cut, the method comprising:

• passing a mounting rod into a keyed bushing coupled to an offset opening through first and second opposing surfaces of an index member;
• inserting the mounting rod into an intramedullary canal of the femur;
• inserting first and second elongated posts of a bridge member into corresponding first and second apertures in a peripheral wall of the index member;
• placing a cutting guide member over a medial anterior portion of the distal femur, the cutting guide member having a first channel that establishes the first reference plane;
• inserting a wall of a bridge channel of the bridge member into the first channel of the cutting guide member;
• and
• providing a sliding resistance between the bridge member and the cutting guide member by a mounting mechanism;
• wherein the sliding resistance is provided by magnets.

A method of positioning a femoral cutting guide on a distal end of a femur that establishes at least a first reference plane to perform a distal femoral planar cut, the method comprising:

• passing a mounting rod into a keyed bushing coupled to an offset opening through first and second opposing surfaces of an index member;
• inserting the mounting rod into an intramedullary canal of the femur;
• inserting first and second elongated posts of a bridge member into corresponding first and second apertures in a peripheral wall of the index member, the first and second elongated posts having different cross-sections;
• placing a cutting guide member over a medial anterior corner of the distal femur, the cutting guide member having first and second parallel and arcuate channels that establish the first reference plane and a second reference plane;
• inserting a wall of a bridge channel of the bridge member into one of the first and second channels of the cutting guide member;
• engaging the first surface of the index member to the distal end of the femur when the femur is a right femur, and engaging the second surface of the index member to the distal end of the femur when the femur is a left femur;
• and providing sliding resistance between the bridge member and the cutting guide member by a mounting mechanism;
• wherein the sliding resistance is provided by magnets.