Surgical Instruments & Knot Tying

Question 1

How are surgical instruments cleaned/sterilised?

Answer 1

Autoclaved at high temps within a sealed surgical pack.

Question 2

What are towel clamps designed to do?

Answer 2

Securely attach
surgical drapes to the skin of the patient.

Question 3

What is a key feature of a towel clamp and why?

Answer 3

Extremely sharp tips - means blood flow to the area is maintained and therefore is less traumatic to the tissue.

Question 4

Why should puckering of the drapes be avoided when using towel clamps?

Answer 4

Instruments and organs may pass
under the drape and become contaminated.

Question 5

Label the parts of a needle holder.

Answer 5

Answer in handbook

Question 6

How many types of needle holder are there and name them.

Answer 6

1. Mayo Hegar
2. Olsen Hegar
3. Gillies

Question 7

What are the features of a Mayo Hegar needle holder?

Answer 7

• Simple and straight
• No cutting edge
• Ratchet

Question 8

What are the features of an Olsen Hegar needle holder?

Answer 8

Very similar to Mayo Hegar but have a cutting blade just behind the tips.

Question 9

What are the features of a Gillies needle holder?

Answer 9

• Asymmetrical
• Cutting edge behind the tips
• No ratchet

Question 10

What are the types and names of scissors?

Answer 10

1. Mayo
2. Metzenbaum

Question 11

What are the features of Mayo scissors and what are they used for?

Answer 11

• Straight
• Chunky tips and short shank
• Cutting
  tough or fibrous tissue and suture material

Question 12

What are the features of Metzenbaum scissors and what are they used for?

Answer 12

• Slim tips
• Longer shanks
• Delicate dissection and cutting of soft tissue –> never for cutting suture material

Question 13

What are the 3 types of forcep?

Answer 13

1. Dressing
2. Tissue
3. Artery

Question 14

What are dressing forceps used for?

Answer 14

To hold gauze, cotton and other materials when dressing wounds. Also used to remove bits of necrotic tissue or foreign bodies from wounds prior to dressing, and also for handling suture material.

Question 15

Name the dressing forceps used and its features.

Answer 15

Adson - Wide grip and fine serrated tip

Question 16

What are tissue forceps used for?

Answer 16

Stabilising or holding tissue
during surgical procedures.

Question 17

What are the 3 types of tissue forceps and their features?

Answer 17

1. Adson - rat tooth tip, wide thumb grip
2. Travis - at tooth tip, slimmer
   thumb grip
3. Allis - interlocking teeth, handle with ratchet

Question 18

Why should tissue forceps never be used on hollow organs?

Answer 18

Risk puncturing the tissue

Question 19

What are artery forceps used for?

Answer 19

Haemostasis - control bleeding from vessels and tissue by occluding blood flow.

Question 20

What are the 3 types of artery forceps and their features?

Answer 20

1. Halstead mosquito - small with delicate serrated tips
2. Rochester Pean - larger with a long wide jaw contains transverse serrations
3. Spencer Wells - slightly chunkier with shorts jaws and transverse serrations

Question 21

What is the ovariohysterectomy hook used for?

Answer 21

To help locate and exteriorise the
uterine horns during spay surgery in dogs or
cats.

Question 22

How can you tell the difference between needle holders and artery forceps?

Answer 22

Needle holders: The jaws have a criss-cross pattern of thin serrations, and some will have a hole in one of the jaws.
Artery forceps: The jaws have transverse, relatively thick serrations.