Instruments used in general surgery

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.

Cutting and dissecting instruments
Grasping or holding instruments
Hemostatic instruments
Retractors
Tissue unifying instruments and materials

Instruments used in surgery are:{{Cite web |url=http://www.ilizarov.com/english/ |title=ilizarov.com (English) |access-date=2008-06-04 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130126120621/http://www.ilizarov.com/english/ |archive-date=2013-01-26 |url-status=dead }}Children with Tracheostomies Resource Guide, by Marilyn K. Kertoy, p. 15 ([https://books.google.com/books?id=FDHoDc5Qyr0C&dq=decannulation&pg=PA15 Google book search]){{cite web | url = http://www.ilpi.com/inorganic/glassware/cannula.html | title = Cannulas | work = The Glassware Gallery | author = Rob Toreki | date = 1 December 2004 | publisher = Interactive Learning ←Paradigms Incorporated}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.jvir.org/cgi/content/full/11/8/955#SEC8 |title=Practical approach to nephrostomy |access-date=2008-06-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051103041851/http://www.jvir.org/cgi/content/full/11/8/955#SEC8 |archive-date=2005-11-03 |url-status=dead }}See Mr R McElroy for details of various operations and the unintended effects of chemical cauterization{{cite journal|title=How a Dentist's Name Became a Synonym for a Life-saving Device: The Story of Dr. Charles Stent|journal=Journal of the History of Dentistry|date=July 2001|first=Malvin|last=Ring|volume=49|issue=2|pages=77–80|url=http://www.fauchard.org/publications/history/49_2_july01/stent49_2.htm|access-date=2008-04-01|pmid=11484317|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050428141049/http://www.fauchard.org/publications/history/49_2_july01/stent49_2.htm|archive-date=2005-04-28}}[http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msyringe.html How do they get the hole through a hypodermic needle?]{{cite journal

| last = Bonfils-Roberts

| first = E

| date = May 1972

| title = The Rib Spreader: A Chapter in the History of Thoracic Surgery

| journal = Chest

| volume = 61

| issue = 5

| pages = 469–474

| issn = 0012-3692

| pmid = 4558402

| doi = 10.1378/chest.61.5.469

| url = http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/reprint/61/5/469.pdf

| access-date = 2008-04-22

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081217025255/http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/reprint/61/5/469.pdf

| archive-date = 2008-12-17

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web|url= http://www.teleflexmedicaloem.com/pdf/KMAD-4_General.pdf|title= General Instrument Sourcebook - KMedic|access-date= 2011-02-10|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110718143226/http://www.teleflexmedicaloem.com/pdf/KMAD-4_General.pdf|archive-date= 2011-07-18|url-status= dead}}{{cite book|title=Bailey & Love's SHORT PRACTICE OF SURGERY|edition=23rd|isbn=0-340-75949-6|last1=Russell|first1=R. C. G.|last2=Bulstrode|first2=C. J. K.|last3=Williams|first3=N. S.|date=25 April 2000|publisher=Taylor & Francis }}{{cite book|last=Gould|first=George M.|title=Gould's Pocket Pronouncing Medical Dictionary|edition=10th (rev)|year=1934|publisher=P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Inc.}}{{Excessive citations inline|reason=Please put them after cited information.|date=January 2025}}

class="wikitable sortable"
Instrument Name ! class="unsortable" \| Image ! Brief description ! Specific instruments
Electrical cautery \| 120px \| Electrical surgical cauterization utilizes electricity in either a monopolar or bipolar format to burn soft tissue and control bleeding{{Cite journal\|last=Cordero\|first=Ismael\|date=2015\|title=Electrosurgical units – how they work and how to use them safely\|journal=Community Eye Health\|volume=28\|issue=89\|pages=15–16\|issn=0953-6833\|pmc=4579996\|pmid=26435589}} \| Bovie pencil Monopolar hook Monopolar spatula Bipolar forceps
Curette \| 120px \| For scraping or debriding biological tissue or debris in a biopsy, excision, or cleaning procedure \|
Dermatome \| 120px \| Removes epidermis to graft over another area \|
Dissecting forceps \| 120px \| Grasping and holding; usually used in skin closures or small wounds \|Adson
Tissue forceps \| 120px \| Grasping and holding tissue \|Allis
Penetrating towel clamp \| 120px \|Used to secure towels or reduce bone fragments \|Backhaus penetating towel clamp
Carmalt forceps \| \| Hemostatic forceps \|Kalabasa
Cushing forceps \| \| Grasping and holding \| Non-toothed dissecting forceps
Dandy forceps \| \| Hemostatic forceps \|
DeBakey forceps \| 120px \| 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 \| 120px \| Hemostatic forceps \|
Kocher forceps \| 120px \| Hemostatic forceps \|
Mosquito forceps \| 120px \| Hemostatic forceps \|
Hook \| \| Retractor \|
Nerve hook \| \| Retractor \|
Skin hook \| \| Retractor \|
Lancet (scalpel) \| 120px \| Cutting \|
Mammotome \| 120px \| \|
Needle holder \| 120px \| Grasping and holding \| Castroviejo Crilewood Mayo-Hegar Olsen-Hegar
Retractor \| 120px \| Retractor \|Handheld: Deaver Weitlander Army-Navy Richardson Richardson-Eastmann Ribbon Self-retaining: O'Connor-O'Sullivan Thompson Omni-Tract
Ultrasonic scalpel \| \| Cutting \|
Laser scalpel \| 120px \| Cutting \|
Scissors \| 120px \| Cutting and spreading \|May be curved or straight Iris Metzenbaum's Mayo Tenotomy
Speculum \| 120px \| Used to retract orifices \| Graves' Sim's
Suction tube and Yankeur suction tip \| 120px \| Accessories and implants \|
Surgical elevator \| 120px \| \|
Surgical hook \| 120px \| Retractor \|
Surgical blade #15 \| 120px \|Used to cut vessels or make small incisions \|
Surgical mesh \| 120px \| Accessories and implants \|
Surgical needle \| 120px \| Accessories and implants \|
Surgical sponge \| \| \|
GIA stapler \| 120px \| Used to make a gastrointestinal anastamosis \|Linear stapler
Surgical tray \| \| \|
Suture \| 120px \| \|
Tongue depressor \| 120px \| \|
Tonsillotome \| \| \|
Towel clamp \| 120px \| Clamp \|
Towel forceps \| \| Clamp \|
Backhaus towel forceps \| 120px \| \|
Lorna towel clamp \| \|Non-penatrating towel clamp \|
Tracheotome \| \| \|
Tissue expander \| \| Accessories and implant \|
Subcutaneous inflatable balloon expander \| \| Accessories and implants \|
Trephine \| 120px \| Cutting instrument \|
Trocar \|120px \| 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

class="wikitable sortable"

Instrument Name

! class="unsortable" | Image

! Brief description

! Specific instruments

Instruments used in general surgery

References