embodiment numerous implementation specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers 39 specific goals such as compliance with system related and business related constraints which will vary from one implementation to another moreover it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure the spinal implants disclosed herein boast a variety of inventive features and components that warrant patent protection both individually and in combination fig1 6 illustrate an example of a surgical fixation system according to an exemplary embodiment the surgical fixation system comprises a surgical fixation plate 10 a plurality of screws 38 only two of four shown and a plurality of anti backout elements 20 as will be explained in greater detail below the surgical fixation system may be used to provide temporary or permanent fixation along an orthopedic target site including but not limited to adjacent vertebral levels within the spine e g cervical spine during anterior fusion surgery lumbar spine for anterior fusion surgery etc to do so the plate 10 is first positioned over the target site such that the screws and anti backout elements 20 may thereafter be employed to couple the plate 10 to the target site according to one aspect of the present invention the screws 38 are prevented from backing out of the target site after placement through the use.