An interbody spinal fusion implant for insertion across a disc space
between adjacent vertebral bodies of a human spine has a body two top side
and two bottom side junctions, with at least a pair of diagonally opposed
junctions having a distance therebetween that does not significantly
exceed the implant body height. The implant also includes one or more bone
penetrating protrusions extending outwardly from at least the upper and
lower walls of the implant. The implant is inserted on its side between
adjacent vertebral bodies and then rotated 90 degrees into place. The
protrusions penetrate the endplates upon rotation, thereby securing the
implant within the spine. The implant has at least one passage
therethrough from the upper wall to the lower wall to promote fusion
through the implant. Because of the specialized opposed junctions
overdistraction between the adjacent vertebral bodies is avoided when the
implant is rotated from an initial insertion position to a final deployed
position. In one suggested implant set, two implants are rotated in
opposite directions into their respective final deployed positions, and a
third specialized implant is positioned therebetween to lock the three
implants together along cooperating surfaces. A method for deploying the
push-in implants is also disclosed.