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.