SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS

A surgical instrument is a specially designed tool or device for performing specific actions of carrying out desired effects during a surgery or operation, such as modifying biological tissue, or to provide access or viewing it. Over time, many different kinds of surgical instruments and tools have been invented. Some surgical instruments are designed for general use in surgery, while others are designed for a specific procedure or surgery. Accordingly, the nomenclature of surgical instruments follows certain patterns, such as a description of the action it performs (for example, scalpel, hemostat), the name of its inventor(s) (for example, the Kocher forceps), or a compound scientific name related to the kind of surgery (for example, atracheotome is a tool used to perform a tracheotomy).

The expression surgical instrumentation is somewhat interchangeably used with surgical instruments, but its meaning in medical jargon is really the activity of providing assistance to a surgeon with the proper handling of surgical instruments during an operation, by a specialized professional, usually a nurse.

CLASSIFICATION

There are several classes of surgical instruments:

Graspers, especially tweezers and forceps
Clamps and occluders for blood vessels and other organs
Retractors, used to spread open skin, ribs and other tissue
Distractors, positioners and stereotactic devices
Mechanical cutters (scalpels, lancets, drill bits, rasps, trocars, etc.)
Dilators and specula, for access to narrow passages or incisions
Suction tips and tubes, for removal of bodily fluids
Irrigation and injection needles, tips and tubes, for introducing fluid
Tyndallers, to help "wedge" open damaged tissues in the brain.
Powered devices, such as drills, dermatomes
Scopes and probes, including fiber optic endoscopes and tactile probes
Carriers and appliers for optical, electronic and mechanical devices
Ultrasound tissue disruptors, cryotomes and cutting laser guides
Measurement devices, such as rulers and calipers

An important relative distinction, regarding surgical instruments, is the amount of bodily disruption or tissue trauma that their use might cause the patient. Terms relating to this issue are 'atraumatic' and minimally invasive. Minimally invasive systems are an important recent development in surgery. In the future, these devices will include many microscopic autonomous and directed devices.