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
| 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 |
| |
| 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 | Cutting | ||
| Mammotome | |||
| Needle holder | Grasping and holding | ||
| Retractor | Retractor | Handheld:
| |
| 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 | - |