Veterinary Surgical Instuments

Metzenbaum scissors
• Delicate scissors with long handles and short blades. • Can be either straight or curved. • Size is variable; most often 7 or 9 inches long. • Used only for fine tissue dissection (e.g. SQ tissues).

Stevens Tenotomy scissors
• Small scissors (4 ½”) with very fine tips. • Can be either straight or curved. • Used in SA general surgery and in ophthalmology surgery.

Littauer suture removal scissors • Used for removal of sutures • Hook in one blade is used to elevate suture as it is cut. • 5 ½ inches long

Lister bandage scissors
• Very strong scissors. • Tip against skin is blunted. • Size is variable; 4 ½ or 5 ½ inches is typical. • Used for cutting bandage material or removing bandages.

Suture scissors • Part of the surgical pack. • Straight scissors with similar handle:blade length. • Size is variable; 5 ½ inches is common. • Used for cutting suture material during surgery.Blunt:blunt suture scissors and straight Mayos may look similar initially, but don’t confuse them! Suture scissors are lighter weight, and have very different blade tips than Mayo scissors.

Mayo scissors
• Heavier scissor, with longer blades than Metzenbaum. • Can be either straight or curved. • Size is variable; 6 ¾ inches long is common. • Used for heavy tissue dissection (e.g. fascia).

Adson forceps
• Delicate thumb forceps with very fine tip. • Teeth only at tip • Normally 1x2 teeth but can be 2x3 teeth • 4 ¾ inches long • Used for closure of SQ tissues or thin skin

Brown Adson forceps
• Also called Adson-Brown forceps. • Same size and shape as Adson tissue forceps. • Two rows of 7 small teeth on each tip. • Less traumatic than Adson forceps. • Used for closure of SQ tissues or thin skin. • Used for closure of hollow organs (urinary bladder, etc).
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Thumb forceps (rat-tooth)
• Standard, general use tissue forceps. • Variable number of teeth at the tip: 1x2, 2x3, 3x4, or 4x5 teeth • Length varies; usually 6-8 inches. • Relatively traumatic. • Used for handling thick skin, or other substantial tissues (ie not hollow organs or blood vessels).

Russian forceps (bear paw)
• Semicircular rows of small teeth at tip. • Variable length; most often 8 or 10 inches. • Relatively atraumatic. • Used for handling of visceral and somatic tissues other than skin.
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Debakey
• Narrower tip than thumb forceps. • Two rows of non-agressive teeth on each tip. • Usually longer than other forceps; 9 ½ inches is common. • Relatively atraumatic. • Used for handling delicate tissues, particularly blood vessels.
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Dressing forceps • Cross striations on tips rather than teeth. • Used for holding dressings or suture. • Never used on tissues.

Halsted mosquito forceps
• A small (~4 ½ inches) forceps. • Standard, frequently used instrument in both SA and LA trays. • Commonly called a ‘mosquito’ or a ‘snap’. • Used to grasp small vessels for ligation or cauterization.

Crile forceps
• Medium sized forceps ~ 5 ½ inches. • Jaws are fully cross striated. • Used to grasp small vessels for ligation or cauterization.

Kelly forceps
• Medium sized forceps ~ 5 ½ inches. • Jaws are cross striated only on distal ½ of tips. • Used to grasp small vessels for ligation or cauterization.