There are many different surgical specialties, some of which require specific kinds of surgical instruments to perform.
General surgery is a specialty focused on the abdomen; the thyroid gland; diseases involving skin, breasts, and various soft tissues; trauma; peripheral vascular disease; hernias; and endoscopic procedures.
Instruments can be classified in many ways, but, broadly speaking, there are five kinds of instruments.
Instruments used in surgery are: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [ excessive citations ]
| Instrument Name | Image | Brief description | Specific instruments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical cautery | | Electrical surgical cauterization utilizes electricity in either a monopolar or bipolar format to burn soft tissue and control bleeding [12] |
|
| Curette | | For scraping or debriding biological tissue or debris in a biopsy, excision, or cleaning procedure | |
| Dermatome | | Removes epidermis to graft over another area | |
| Dissecting forceps | | Grasping and holding; usually used in skin closures or small wounds | Adson |
| Tissue forceps | | Grasping and holding tissue | Allis |
| Penetrating towel clamp | | Used to secure towels or reduce bone fragments | Backhaus penetrating towel clamp |
| Carmalt forceps | Hemostatic forceps | Kalabasa | |
| Cushing forceps | Grasping and holding | Non-toothed dissecting forceps | |
| Dandy forceps | Hemostatic forceps | ||
| DeBakey forceps | | Grasping and holding | Non-toothed dissecting forceps designed for use on blood vessels, organs, or delicate tissue |
| Doyen intestinal clamp | Clamps and distractors | Non-crushing clamp designed for use on the intestines | |
| Kelly forceps | | Hemostatic forceps | |
| Kocher forceps | | Hemostatic forceps | |
| Mosquito forceps | | Hemostatic forceps | |
| Hook | Retractor | ||
| Nerve hook | Retractor | ||
| Skin hook | Retractor | ||
| Lancet (scalpel) | | Cutting | |
| Mammotome | | ||
| Needle holder | | Grasping and holding |
|
| Retractor | | Retractor | Handheld:
Self-retaining:
|
| Ultrasonic scalpel | Cutting | ||
| Laser scalpel | | Cutting | |
| Scissors | | Cutting and spreading | May be curved or straight |
| Speculum | | Used to retract orifices |
|
| Suction tube and Yankeur suction tip | | Accessories and implants | |
| Surgical elevator | | ||
| Surgical hook | | Retractor | |
| Surgical blade #15 | | Used to cut vessels or make small incisions | |
| Surgical mesh | | Accessories and implants | |
| Surgical needle | | Accessories and implants | |
| Surgical sponge | |||
| GIA stapler | | Used to make a gastrointestinal anastamosis | Linear stapler |
| Surgical tray | |||
| Suture | | ||
| Tongue depressor | | ||
| Tonsillotome | |||
| Towel clamp | | Clamp | |
| Towel forceps | Clamp | ||
| Backhaus towel forceps | | ||
| Lorna towel clamp | Non-penatrating towel clamp | ||
| Tracheotome | |||
| Tissue expander | Accessories and implant | ||
| Subcutaneous inflatable balloon expander | Accessories and implants | ||
| Trephine | | Cutting instrument | |
| Trocar | | Access instrument. Used to create an opening into a space without opening the abdominal cavity. A camera is inserted through one to view the interior while instruments are inserted through the others to manipulate the organs. | |
| Ultrasonic energy device | Surgical device typically used to dissect tissue, but also seals small vessels and tissue bundles |