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A surgical drill guide for use with a bone plate having fastener holes oriented at predetermined angles with respect to the plate, the surgical drill guide having at least one alignment drill guiding barrel that is aligned with the respective fastener holes in the bone plate for drilling the holes a

A surgical drill guide for use with a bone plate having fastener holes oriented at predetermined angles with respect to the plate, the surgical drill guide having at least one alignment drill guiding barrel that is aligned with the respective fastener holes in the bone plate for drilling the holes at the desired range of angles permitted by the plate hole.

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What is claimed is: 1. A drill guide assembly comprising: a guide barrel for receiving a bone tool for creating a hole in bone; and an alignment assembly associated with the guide barrel for aligning the bone tool with a selected first or second fastener hole of a bone plate, the alignment assembly

What is claimed is: 1. A drill guide assembly comprising: a guide barrel for receiving a bone tool for creating a hole in bone; and an alignment assembly associated with the guide barrel for aligning the bone tool with a selected first or second fastener hole of a bone plate, the alignment assembly comprising a location post configured to be at least partially received within a recess in the bone plate and a guide barrel housing within which the location post is slidably mounted, the guide barrel housing being in facing engagement with the guide barrel along its entire length, the recess being separate and distinct from the first and second fastener holes of the bone plate; wherein the guide barrel is not pivotable relative to the alignment assembly; and wherein the location post is pivotable about the bone plate recess to allow the guide barrel to be selectively aligned with the first and second fastener holes; and wherein the alignment assembly further comprising a housing having a first axial bore configured to slidably receive at least a portion of the location post; and wherein the location post and housing further each comprising a distal end, the location post having a retracted position in which the location post distal end is located a first distance from the distal end of the housing, and an extended position in which the location post distal end is located a second distance from the distal end of the housing, wherein the second length is greater than the first length, the location post includes a plurality of slots extending from a distal end thereof, the plurality of slots defining a plurality of resilient fingers so that insertion of the resilient fingers in the recess of the bone plate compresses the resilient fingers within the recess thereby axially locking the drill guide to the bone plate; and wherein the alignment assembly further comprising a spring element disposed at least partially within a second axial bore in the housing to bias the location post to the extended position. 2. The drill guide assembly of claim 1, the guide barrel further comprising a bore with a bore axis, and a distal plate-engaging end, wherein the distal plate-engaging end comprises a nose portion configured to be received within the first or second fastener hole to align the bore with the bone screw hole. 3. The drill guide assembly of claim 2, wherein the nose portion comprises a conical shape. 4. The drill guide assembly of claim 2, the housing first axial bore and the guide barrel bore forming an acute angle therebetween. 5. The drill guide assembly of claim 1, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the extended position, the guide barrel distal end is located a first distance from the top surface of the bone plate. 6. The drill guide assembly of claim 1, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the retracted position, the guide barrel distal end contacts the selected bone screw hole. 7. A surgical drill guide configured to engage an inner surface of a first or second fastener hole and a recess of a bone plate, the drill guide comprising: a handle, a guide barrel having a length, a proximal end associated with the handle and a distal end engageable with the fastener hole, the guide barrel further comprising a bore configured to receive a bone cavity forming tool; and an alignment assembly associated with the guide barrel for aligning the bone tool with the first or second fastener hole, the alignment assembly comprising a housing and a location post configured to be at least partially received within the recess, and having a length; wherein the guide barrel has a substantially longer length than the housing and the housing is integrally formed at the distal end of the guide barrel; and wherein the location post is pivotable within the recess to allow the guide barrel to be selectively aligned with the first and second fastener holes so that the tool may be extended through the guide barrel to form a cavity in a bone underlying the selected fastener hole; and wherein the handle is detachably coupled to the proximal end of the guide barrel via a handle extension and a swivel assembly so that the handle can be rotatably positioned with respect to the guide barrel. 8. The drill guide of claim 7, wherein the location post is configured to axially lock the drill guide to the bone plate. 9. The drill guide of claim 8, wherein the location post further comprises a plurality of resilient finger elements configured to frictionally engage the bone plate recess to thereby axially lock the drill guide to the bone plate. 10. The drill guide of claim 9, wherein the resilient finger elements further comprise at least one ridge configured to engage threads in the bone plate recess. 11. The drill guide of claim 7, wherein the housing has a first axial bore configured to slidably receive at least a portion of the location post. 12. The drill guide of claim 11, wherein the location post has a retracted position in which a first length of the location post is received within the bore and an extended position in which a second length of the location post is received within the bore, wherein the first length is greater than the second length. 13. The drill guide of claim 12, wherein the alignment assembly further comprises a spring element disposed at least partially within a second axial bore in the housing to bias the location post to the extended position. 14. The drill guide of claim 13, wherein the guide barrel further comprises a bore with a bore axis, and a distal plate-engaging end, wherein the distal plate-engaging end comprises a nose portion configured to be received within the first or second fastener hole to align the bore with the bone screw hole. 15. The drill guide of claim 14, wherein the nose portion comprises a conical shape. 16. The drill guide of claim 14, wherein the first axial bore and the guide barrel bore forms an acute angle therebetween. 17. The drill guide of claim 13, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the extended position, the guide barrel distal end is located a first distance from the top surface of the bone plate. 18. The drill guide of claim 13, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the retracted position, the guide barrel distal end contacts second bone screw hole. 19. The drill guide of claim 7, wherein the swivel assembly has a locked position in which the handle can not be rotated with respect to the guide barrel, and an unlocked position in which the handle is freely rotatable with respect to the guide barrel. 20. The drill guide of claim 19, wherein the swivel assembly comprises at least one non-metallic bearing. 21. The drill guide of claim 19, wherein the swivel assembly comprises a drain hole configured to allow fluid to drain from the assembly subsequent to sterilization of the drill guide. 22. The drill guide of claim 7, wherein the location post is axially fixed to the alignment assembly. 23. A drill guide assembly comprising: a guide barrel having a tool receiving portion comprising a longitudinal bore having a bore axis, and an alignment assembly portion; an alignment assembly comprising a guide barrel engaging portion, a housing and a location post having a post axis, wherein the housing and the guide barrel are monolithic, a bone plate having at least two bone screw holes and a positioning recess, the positioning recess being separate and distinct from the bone screw holes, the positioning recess being sized and configured not to receive a bone screw, the positioning recess configured to receive at least a portion of the location post, the center of the positioning recess being separated from the center of at least one of the bone screw holes by a first distance, wherein the bore axis is located a second distance from the location post axis, the first and second distances being substantially equal so that when the location post engages the bone plate recess, the bore is substantially coaxial with the at least one fixation hole; and wherein the guide barrel further includes a distal plate-engaging end comprising a nose portion configured to be received within one of the bone screw holes to align the longitudinal bore with the bone screw hole prior to drilling a hole. 24. The surgical drill guide assembly of claim 23, further comprising a handle member associated with a proximal end of the guide barrel. 25. The surgical drill guide assembly of claim 24, wherein the handle member is pivotable in relation to the guide barrel. 26. The surgical drill guide assembly of claim 25, wherein the handle further has a locked position in which the handle is rotationally coupled to the guide barrel, and an unlocked position in which the handle is freely rotatable with respect to the guide barrel. 27. The surgical drill guide assembly of claim 26, further comprising: a locking button having an actuation end and a locking end, the locking end having at least one radial projection, the button further having an unactuated position and an actuated position; the handle comprising a bore configured to slidably receive at least a portion of the button, the bore further comprising a radial recess configured to receive the radial projection; and a handle extension having a handle engaging end and a guide barrel engaging end, the handle engaging end having at least one radial groove configured to receive the radial projection; wherein when the handle is in the unactuated position, the radial projection engages the radial recesses of the handle bore and the handle extension to configure the handle in the locked position. 28. The drill guide of claim 27, wherein when the handle is in the actuated position, the radial projection engages the radial recess of only one of the handle bore and the handle extension to configure the handle in the unlocked position. 29. The drill guide of claim 27, wherein the location post further comprises a plate engaging end having a plurality of resilient fingers configured to axially lock the drill guide to the bone plate when the location post is engaged with the recess. 30. The surgical drill guide assembly of claim 23, wherein the guide barrel has at least one depth stop surface configured to coact with a corresponding stop surface of a bone cavity forming tool when the tool is received within the bore to prevent the tool from passing completely through the guide barrel bore. 31. A drill guide assembly comprising: a guide barrel having a tool receiving portion comprising a longitudinal bore having a bore axis, and an alignment assembly portion; an alignment assembly comprising a guide barrel engaging portion, a housing and a location post having a post axis, wherein the housing and the guide barrel are monolithic, a bone plate having at least two fastener receiving holes and a drill guide positioning recess, the recess configured to receive at least a portion of the location post, the drill guide positioning recess being separate and distinct from the fastener receiving holes, the drill guide positioning recess being sized and configured not to receive a fastener, the center of the drill guide positioning recess being separated from the center of at least one of the fastener receiving holes by a first distance, wherein the bore axis is located a second distance from the location post axis as measured between the distal ends of the guide barrel and the location post, the first and second distances being substantially unequal so that when the location post engages the drill guide positioning recess, the bore is not coaxial with the at least one fastener receiving; and wherein the guide barrel further includes a distal plate-engaging end comprising a nose portion configured to be received within one of the fastener receiving holes to align the longitudinal bore with the fastener receiving hole prior to drilling a hole. 32. The drill guide assembly of claim 31, wherein the difference between the first and second distances is from about 0 millimeters (mm) to about 0.8 mm. 33. The drill guide assembly of claim 31, wherein the second distance is about 0.5 mm longer than the first distance. 34. A drill guide comprising: a guide barrel for receiving a bone tool for creating a hole in bone; and an alignment assembly associated with the guide barrel for aligning the bone tool with a selected first or second fastener hole of a bone plate, the alignment assembly comprising a location post having a longitudinal axis and configured to be at least partially received within a recess in the bone plate; wherein the location post is pivotable about the longitudinal axis and in the bone plate recess to allow the guide barrel to be selectively aligned with the first and second fastener holes; the alignment assembly further comprising a housing having a first axial bore configured to slidably receive at least a portion of the location post; and wherein the location post and housing further each comprising a distal end, the location post having a retracted position in which the location post distal end is located a first distance from the distal end of the housing, and an extended position in which the location post distal end is located a second distance from the distal end of the housing, wherein the second length is greater than the first length, the location post includes a plurality of slots extending from a distal end thereof, the plurality of slots defining a plurality of resilient fingers so that insertion of the resilient fingers in the recess of the bone plate compresses the resilient fingers within the recess thereby axially locking the drill guide to the bone plate; and wherein the alignment assembly further comprising a spring element disposed at least partially within a second axial bore in the housing to bias the location post to the extended position. 35. The drill guide of claim 34, the guide barrel further comprising a bore with a bore axis, and a distal plate-engaging end, wherein the distal plate-engaging end comprises a nose portion configured to be received within the first or second fastener hole to align the bore with the bone screw hole. 36. The drill guide of claim 35, wherein the nose portion comprises a conical shape. 37. The drill guide of claim 35, the housing first axial bore and the guide barrel bore forming an acute angle therebetween. 38. The drill guide of claim 34, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the extended position, the guide barrel distal end is located a first distance from the top surface of the bone plate. 39. The drill guide of claim 34, wherein when the location post is received within the bone plate recess and the location post is in the retracted position, the guide barrel distal end contacts the selected bone screw hole.