Damage or disease that affects the integral structure of a bone structure or more specifically, a vertebral body within an individual's spinal column may lead to structural neurologic impairment with possible permanent damage to the surrounding tissue. Maintaining proper anatomic spacing within a bone structure or the spinal column is critical to ensuring continued functionality of the surrounding tissue and for the spinal column, the spinal cord and nerve roots and therefore, avoidance of long term serious neurological impairment.
Typically, spacer type of implants or more specifically, spinal implants that are used to maintain a set distance between adjacent vertebral bodies, are only available at a fixed overall length and are implanted without the ability to adjust the degree of expansion or curvature without using multiple insertion instrumentation. There remains a need for a multi-functional surgical instrument to be used to implant a spacer type of implant that allows the surgeon to manipulate and adjust the implant while in situ while limiting the size of the surgical incision, facilitating the operative technique and decreasing resultant patient morbidity.