Spring retractors: Applicability to urologic surgery

SPRING RETRACTORS : APPLICABILITY TO UROLOGIC SURGERY JOHN F. REDMAN, M .D . From the Department of Urology ; University of Arkansas College of Medicine, Little Rock, Arkansas

A useful adjunct in developing an incision is constant tension on the tissue to be incised . Once the skin incision has been made, constant tension may be provided in a variety of ways which are greatly increased if there are one or

more assistants . The constancy of the retraction provided, however, varies with the assistant(s) . *Anderson RM, and Romfh RF : Technique in the Use of Surgical Tools, New York, Appleton-Centur y -Crofts, 1980 .

Selected spring retractors (insert on right shows detail of teeth) : (1) 4 .5 cm Arikola, (2) 7 .5 cm, (3) 9 cm, (4) 11 .4 cm, (5) 14 cm, (6) 24 cm . FIGURE 1 .

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VOLUME XXIy NUMBER 6



A simple way to provide such retraction without an assistant is the use of spring retractors . Spring retractors are basically the same in design but differ primarily in size, strength, and shape of the portion of the instrument in contact with the tissue to be retracted . The placement and the removal of these retractors is the ultimate in simplicity as opposed to instruments with ratcheted or screwed locks or even ring retractors . A spring retractor may he placed quickly and easily into a deepening

(A) 24-cm spring retractors utilized left flank incision . (B) 7.5-cmn spring retractors used in developing incision in child to expose urethra transscrotally. (C)14-can spring retractors utilized to expose deep bulbous urethra . FIGURE 2.

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wound or one that is being closed . Figure 1 illustrates the spectrum of retractors . Figure 2 illustrates some useful applications of these versatile refractors .

DECEMBER 1984 / VOLUME XXIV NUMBER 6

4301 West Markham, Slot 540 Little Rock, Arkansas 72205

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