Instruments used in general surgery

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There are many different surgical specialties, some of which require very specific kinds of surgical instruments to perform.

General surgery is a specialty focused on the abdominal contents, as well as the thyroid gland, and diseases involving skin, breasts, various soft tissues, trauma, peripheral vascular disease, hernias, and endoscopic procedures.

This page is dedicated specifically to listing surgical instruments used in general surgery.

Instruments can be classified in many ways - but broadly speaking, there are five kinds of instruments.

  1. Cutting and dissecting instruments:
    • Scalpels, scissors, and saws are the most traditional.
    • Elevators can be both cutting and lifting/retracting.
    • Although the term dissection is broad, energy devices such as diathermy/cautery are often used as more modern alternatives.
  2. Grasping or holding instruments:
    • Classically this included forceps and clamps predominantly.
    • Roughly, forceps can be divided into traumatic (tissue crushing) and atraumatic (tissue preserving, such as Debakey's)
    • Numerous examples are available for different purposes by field.
  3. Hemostatic instruments:
    • This includes instruments utilized for the cessation of bleeding.
    • Artery forceps are a classic example in which bleeding is halted by direct clamping of a vessel.
    • Sutures are often used, aided by a needle holder.
    • Cautery and related instruments are used with increasing frequency in high resource countries.
  4. Retractors:
    • Surgery is often considered to be largely about exposure.
    • A multitude of retractors exist to aid in exposing the body's cavities accessed during surgery.
    • These can broadly be handheld (often by a junior assistant) or self-retaining.
    • Elevators can be both cutting and lifting/retracting.
  5. Tissue unifying instruments and materials:
    • This would include instruments that aid in tissue unification (such as needle holders or staple applicators)
    • And the materials themselves

Instruments used in surgery are: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Instrument NameImageBrief descriptionSpecific instruments
Electrical cautery Electrocauter 00.jpg Electrical surgical cauterization utilizes electricity in either a mono-polar or bi-polar format to burn soft tissue and control bleeding. [12]
  • Bovie Pencil
  • Monopolar Hook
  • Monopolar Spatula
  • Bipolar Forceps
Curette Uterine Curette 01.jpg for scraping or debriding biological tissue or debris in a biopsy, excision, or cleaning procedureCome in various sizes and shapes
Dermatome Dermatome.png To take off a top layer of skin to implant over another area;
Forceps, Dissecting Adson 00.jpg Grasping/holding. Usually used in skin closure or small wounds Adson
Forceps, Tissue Allis clamp 01.JPG Grasping/holding tissue Allis
Penetrating towel clamp Backhaus clamp.svg Used to secure towels or reduce bone fragments Backhaus penetating towel clamp
Carmalt forceps haemostatic forcepskalabasa
Cushing forceps grasping/holdingNon-toothed dissecting forceps
Dandy forceps haemostatic forceps
DeBakey forceps Debakey forceps.jpg grasping/holdingNon-toothed dissecting forceps designed for use on blood vessels, organs, or delicate tissue
Doyen intestinal clamp clamps and distractorsNon-crushing clamp designed for use on the intestines
Kelly forceps Kelly Forceps.svg hemostatic forceps
Kocher forceps Kocher grossklein totale.jpg hemostatic forceps
Mosquito forceps Medical Instrument Mosquito forceps.jpg hemostatic forceps
Hookretractor
Nerve hook retractor
Skin hook retractor
Lancet (scalpel) Various scalpels.png cutting
Mammotome Mammotome.jpg
Needle holder Needle holder2.JPG grasping/holding Castroviejo Crilewood Mayo-Hegar Olsen-Hegar
Retractor Surgical retractor Orem 2.jpg retractorHandheld:
  • Deaver
  • Weitlander
  • Army-Navy
  • Richardson
  • Richardson-Eastmann
  • Ribbon

Self-retaining:

  • O'Connor-O'Sullivan
  • Thompson
  • Omni-Tract
Ultrasonic scalpel cutting
Laser scalpel Sharplan 40C.jpg cutting
Scissors Nozyczki Mayo.svg Cutting, spreadingMay be curved or straight
Speculum Speculum en plastique.jpg Used to retract orifices.
  • Graves'
  • Sim's
Suction tube and Yankeur suction tip Yankauer Suction Tip.jpg accessories and implants
Surgical elevator Lecluse's elevator 01.jpg
Surgical hook Kriuchok khirurgicheskii trekhzubyi ostryi.jpg retractor
Surgical blade #15 Surgical Blade.jpg Used to cut vessels or make small incisions
Surgical mesh Hernia mesh 2.JPG accessories and implants
Surgical needle Surgical needles.jpg accessories and implants
Surgical sponge
GIA stapler Surgical stapler & cutter linear.JPG Used to make a gastrointestinal anastamosisLinear stapler
Surgical tray
Suture Atraumatisches Nahtmaterial 17.JPG
Tongue depressor Lack's Longue Depressor ENT Instrument Medical.jpg
Tonsillotome
Towel clamp Towel Clamps 01.jpg clamp
Towel forceps clamp
Backhaus towel forceps Backhaus clamp.svg
Lorna towel clamp Non-penatrating towel clamp
Tracheotome
Tissue expander accessories and implant
Subcutaneous inflatable balloon expander accessories and implants
Trephine Trepan, Nordisk familjebok.png cutting instrument
Trocar Trocar family.jpg Access instrument. Used to create an opening into a space without opening the abdominal cavity. A camera then inserted through one to view the inside of the space while instruments are inserted through the others to manipulate the organs.
Ultrasonic energy device Surgical device using electrical energy that's converted to mechanical ultrasound energy typically used to dissect tissue but also seals small vessels and tissue bundles.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemostat</span> Surgical clamp tool commonly used to control bleeding

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Cauterization is a medical practice or technique of burning a part of a body to remove or close off a part of it. It destroys some tissue in an attempt to mitigate bleeding and damage, remove an undesired growth, or minimize other potential medical harm, such as infections when antibiotics are unavailable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forceps</span> Handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allis clamp</span> Surgical instrument

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surgery in ancient Rome</span>

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References

  1. ↑ "ilizarov.com (English)". Archived from the original on 2013-01-26. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  2. ↑ Children with Tracheostomies Resource Guide, by Marilyn K. Kertoy, p. 15 (Google book search)
  3. ↑ Rob Toreki (1 December 2004). "Cannulas". The Glassware Gallery. Interactive Learning ←Paradigms Incorporated.
  4. ↑ "Practical approach to nephrostomy". Archived from the original on 2005-11-03. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  5. ↑ See Mr R McElroy for details of various operations and the unintended effects of chemical cauterization
  6. ↑ Ring, Malvin (July 2001). "How a Dentist's Name Became a Synonym for a Life-saving Device: The Story of Dr. Charles Stent". Journal of the History of Dentistry. 49 (2): 77–80. PMID   11484317. Archived from the original on 2005-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-01.
  7. ↑ How do they get the hole through a hypodermic needle?
  8. ↑ Bonfils-Roberts, E (May 1972). "The Rib Spreader: A Chapter in the History of Thoracic Surgery" (PDF). Chest. 61 (5): 469–474. doi:10.1378/chest.61.5.469. ISSN   0012-3692. PMID   4558402. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-04-22.
  9. ↑ "General Instrument Sourcebook - KMedic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-02-10.
  10. ↑ Russell, R. C. G.; Bulstrode, C. J. K.; Williams, N. S. (25 April 2000). Bailey & Love's SHORT PRACTICE OF SURGERY (23rd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN   0-340-75949-6.
  11. ↑ Gould, George M. (1934). Gould's Pocket Pronouncing Medical Dictionary (10th (rev) ed.). P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Inc.
  12. ↑ Cordero, Ismael (2015). "Electrosurgical units – how they work and how to use them safely". Community Eye Health. 28 (89): 15–16. ISSN   0953-6833. PMC   4579996 . PMID   26435589.
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