Bone Plate with Complex, Adjacent Holes Joined by a Relief-Space

A bone plate (10) is described which is adapted for use in situ to fix a spatial relationship of at least two bone parts (80). The bone plate (10) has at least one pair of the bone screw apertures that are adjoined by a relief-space contiguous with the open space of the screw apertures themselves. An adjoined aperture pair forms a complex aperture and has a center-to-center distanced of the apertures along an axis running through the centers of the apertures. The center-to-center distance d is equal to or greater than the sum of the radii (r1+r2) of the heads of the individual bone screw used with the aperture pair. At least one of the screw apertures (24) has a screw head seat (34) having at least one relief notch (84) set into a surface of the screw head seat (34). The relief notch 84 provides desirable advantages that are not similarly accomplished in their absence, such as a clearance passage for a tensioning wire 88 or a receiver for a self-locking insert 92.