A system and method is provided for maintaining a proper intervertebral
disc height during the replacement or augmentation of the spinal disc. In
one embodiment, a cannulated distractor is used to distract the adjacent
vertebrae and maintain a proper disc space height . The cannulated
distractor is fluidly connected to a source of fluent material for
injection into the disc space. The distraction includes a distraction tip
resident within the disc space that includes a central lumen and a number
of openings communicating with the lumen to dispense the fluent material
within the disc space.