Hemostatic forceps: Hinged (locking) Forceps. Many hemostatic forceps bear the name of the designer (Kelly, Holstead, Crile). They are used to clamp and hold blood vessels.

Classification by size and shape and size of tips

Hemostatic forceps and hemostats may be curved or straight.

Kelly Hemostatic Forceps and Mosquito Hemostats

Both are transversely serrated.

Mosquito hemostats (A) are more delicate than Kelly hemostatic forceps (B).

Comparison of Kelly and Mosquito tips

Mosquito hemostats (A) have a smaller, finer tip.

Carmalt

Heavier than Kelly.

Preferred for clamping of ovarian pedicals   during an ovariohysterectomy surgery because the serrations run longitudinally.

 

         

         

Doyen Intestinal Forceps

Doyen intestinal forceps are non-crushing intestinal occluding forceps with longitudinal serrations.

Used to temporarily occlude lumen of bowel.

Payr Pylorus Clamps

Payr pylorus clamp is a crushing intestinal instrument.

Used to occlude the end of bowel to be resected.

                                            

         

Needle holder: Hinged (locking) instrument used to hold the needle while suturing tissue.

Good quality is ensured with tungsten carbide inserts at the tip of the needle holder.

Mayo-Hegar

Heavy, with mildly tapered jaws.

No cutting blades.

Olsen-Hegar

Includes both needle holding jaw and scissors blades.

The disadvantage to having blades within the needle holder is the suture material may be accidentally cut.

         

         

Senn

Blades at each end.

Blades can be blunt (delicate) or sharp (more traumatic, used for fascia).

Hohman

Levers tissue away from bone during orthopedic procedures.

         

         

Weitlaner

Ends can be blunt or sharp.Has rake tips.Ratchet to hold tissue apart.

Gelpi

Has single point tips.

Ratchet to hold tissue apart.

                                          

         

Handles

#3 Handle

#4 Handle

Handles and Blades

Blades   #10, 11, 12, 15 fit the #3 handle.

Blades #22, #23 fit the #4 handle and are commonly used for large animals.

 

Disposable Scalpel

         

         

Towel clamps secure drapes to a patient's skin. They may also be used to hold tissue.

Backhaus Towel Clamp

Locking forceps with curved, pointed tips.

         

Forceps: consist of two tines held together at one end with a spring device that holds the tines open. Forceps can be either tissue or dressing forceps.

Dressing forceps have smooth or smoothly serrated tips.

Tissue forceps have teeth to grip tissue. Many forceps bear the name of the originator of the design, such as Adson tissue forceps.

Rat Tooth: A Tissue Forceps

Interdigitating teeth hold tissue without slipping.

Used to hold skin/dense tissue.

Adson Tissue Forceps

Small serrated teeth on edge of tips.

The Adsons tissue forceps has delicate serrated tips designed for light, careful handling of tissue.

Intestinal Tissue Forceps: Hinged (locking) forceps used for grasping and holding tissue.

Allis: An Intestinal Tissue Forceps

Interdigitating short teeth to grasp and hold bowel or tissue.

Slightly traumatic, use to hold intestine, fascia and skin.

Babcock: An Intestinal Tissue Forceps

More delicate that Allis, less directly traumatic.

Broad, flared ends with smooth tips.

Used to atraumatically hold viscera (bowel and bladder).

Sponge Forceps

Sponge forceps can be straight or curved.

Sponge forceps can have smooth or serrated jaws.

Used to atraumatically hold viscera (bowel and bladder).

 

         

         

Classification by type of points

All types of scissors can have blunt or sharp blades (A: Sharp:Sharp, B: Blunt:Blunt).

All types can have either straight or curved blades.

Mayo and Metzenbaum

Mayo scissors (B) are used for cutting heavy fascia and sutures.

Metzenbaum scissors (A) are more delicate than Mayo scissors.

Metzenbaum scissors are used to cut delicate tissues.Metzenbaum scissors have a longer handle to blade

ratio.

         

 

         

Scissors and Hemostats:

The thumb and ring finger are inserted into the rings of the scissors while the index and middle finger are used to guide the instrument.

The instrument should remain at the tips of the fingers for maximum control.

This is the wrong way to hold the scissors. The ring finger should be inserted into the ring.

This is also the wrong way to hold the scissors. The tips of the scissors should be pointing upwards.

Thumb Forceps:Thumb forceps are held like a pencil.

Thumb Forceps are not called 'tweezers'.

Thumb Forceps are not held like a knife.

Scalpels:The scalpel is held with thumb, middle and ring finger while the index finger is placed on the upper edge to help guide the scalpel.

Long gentle cutting strokes are less traumatic to tissue than short chopping motions.

The scalpel should never be used in a "stabbing" motion.

         

ForcepsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Plastic forceps are intended to be disposable.

Forceps or forcipes are a handheld, hinged instrument used for grasping and holding objects. Forceps are used when fingers are too large to grasp small objects or when many objects need to be held at one time while the hands are used to perform a task. The term 'forceps' is used almost exclusively within the medical field. Outside medicine, people usually refer to forceps as tweezers, tongs, pliers, clips or clamps.

'Forceps' can be used as both the singular and plural form of the word. (Example: "I need a forceps.") Also, it is not referred to as a "pair" as one refers to a "pair of scissors". Etymologically, the word derives from the Latin forca, meaning a snare or trap.

Mechanically, forceps employ the principle of the lever to grasp and apply pressure.

Surgical forceps are commonly made of high-grade carbon steel, which ensures they can withstand repeated sterilization in high-temperature autoclaves. Lower quality steel is used in forceps made for other uses. Some forceps, intended to be used once and then discarded, are made of plastic. The invention of surgical forceps is attributed toStephen Hales [1]

There are two basic types of forceps: non-locking (often called 'thumb forceps' or 'pick-ups') and locking, though these two types come in dozens of specialized forms for various uses. Non-locking forceps also come in two basic forms: hinged at one end, away from the grasping end (colloquially such forceps are called tweezers) and hinged in the middle, rather like scissors. Locking forceps are

almost always hinged in the middle, though some forms place the hinge very close to the grasping end. Locking forceps use various means to lock the grasping surfaces in a closed position to facilitate manipulation or to independently clamp, grasp or hold an object.

Contents

  [hide] 

1   Thumb forceps 2   Locking forceps

o 2.1   Kelly forceps o 2.2   Other medical forceps

3   See also 4   References

Thumb forceps[edit]

Blunt-nosed thumb forceps with serrated tips for increased grip.

See also: Tweezers

Thumb forceps are commonly held between the thumb and two or three fingers of one hand, with the top end resting on the first dorsal interosseous muscle at the base of the thumb and index finger. Spring tension at one end holds the grasping ends apart until pressure is applied. This allows one to quickly and easily grasp small objects or tissue to move and release it or to grasp and hold tissue with easily variable pressure. Thumb forceps are used to hold tissue in place when applying sutures, to gently move tissues out of the way during exploratory surgery and to move dressings or draping without using the hands or fingers.

Adson tissue forceps. Note the 1×2 "mouse's teeth" on the lower tip.

Thumb forceps can have smooth tips, cross-hatched tips or serrated tips (often called 'mouse's teeth'). Common arrangements of teeth are 1×2 (two teeth on one side meshing with a single tooth

on the other), 7×7 and 9×9. Serrated forceps are used on tissue; counter-intuitively, teeth will damage tissue less than a smooth surface because one can grasp with less overall pressure. Smooth or cross-hatched forceps are used to move dressings, remove sutures and similar tasks.

Locking forceps[edit]

Locking forceps, sometimes called clamps, are used to grasp and hold objects or tissue. When they are used to compress an artery to forestall bleeding they are called hemostats. Another form of locking forceps is the needle holder, used to guide a suturing needle through tissue. Many locking forceps use finger loops to facilitate handling (see illustration, below, of Kelly Forceps). The finger loops are usually grasped by the thumb and middle or ring fingers, while the index finger helps guide the instrument.

The most common locking mechanism is a series of interlocking teeth located near the finger loops. As the forceps are closed, the teeth engage and keep the instrument's grasping surfaces from separating. A simple shift of the fingers is all that is needed to dis-engage the teeth and allow the grasping ends to move apart. Forceps are also used for surgery.

Kelly forceps[edit]

Kelly forceps, shown closed and open

Kelly forceps are a type of hemostat usually made of stainless steel. They resemble a pair of scissors with the blade replaced by a blunted grip. They also feature a locking mechanism to allow them to act as clamps. Kelly forceps may be floor grade (regular use) and as such not used for surgery. They may also be sterilized and used in operations, in both human and veterinary medicine. They may be either curved or straight. In surgery, they may be used for occluding blood vessels, manipulating [tissues], or for assorted other purposes. They are named for Howard Atwood Kelly, M.D., first professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Johns Hopkins. The "Mosquito" variant of the tool is more delicate and has smaller, finer tips. Other varieties with similar, if more specialized, uses are Allis clamps, Babcocks, Kochers, Carmalts, and tonsils; all but the last bear the names of the surgeons who designed them.

Other medical forceps[edit]

Other types of forceps include:

Magill forceps, which are angled forceps used to guide a tracheal tube into the larynx or a nasogastric tube into the esophagus under direct vision.[2] It is also used to remove foreign bodies.[2]

Anesthesia forceps Artery forceps Atraumatic forceps Biopsy forceps Bone-cutting forceps Bone-holding forceps Bulldogs forceps Catheter forceps Cilia forceps Curettes forceps Cushing forceps Debakey forceps Dermal forceps & nippers Dressing forceps Ear forceps Eye forceps Gallbladder forceps Hemostatic forceps Hysterectomy forceps Intestinal forceps Microsurgery forceps Nasal forceps Obstetrical forceps Postmortem forceps Splinter forceps Sponge forceps Sterilizer forceps Suture sundries forceps Tenaculum  forceps Thoracic forceps Thoracic surgical forceps Thumb forceps Tissue forceps Tongue forceps Tooth extracting forceps Tubing forceps Uterine forceps Vulsellum forceps Wire cutting forceps

Slightly longer than the Halsted Mosquito, the Kelly forceps have a longer jaw to clamp off vessels that control blood flow. The jaw is half-serrated and can be used for blunt dissection. This design incorporates

a ratchet handle for added control.

A hemostat is used to clamp blood vessels or tag sutures.  Its jaws may be straight or curved.  Other names: crile, snap or stat.

hemostat

A mosquito is used to clamp small blood vessels.  Its jaws may be straight or curved.

hemostat, mosquito(left to right)

A Kelly is used to clamp larger vessels and tissue.   Available in short and long sizes.  Other names: Rochester Pean.

Kelly, hemostat, mosquito(left to right)

A burlisher is used to clamp deep blood vessels.   Burlishers have two closed finger rings.  Burlishers with an open finger ring are called tonsil hemostats.  Other names: Schnidt tonsil forcep, Adson forcep.

burlisher

A right angle is used to clamp hard-to-reach vessels and to place sutures behind or around a vessel.  A right angle with a suture attached is called a "tie on a passer."  Other names: Mixter.

right angle

A hemoclip applier with hemoclips applies metal clips onto blood vessels and ducts which will remain occluded.

hemoclip applier with hemoclips

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Last updated 03/26/09.A SCC Library production.