Page 13 - Manual of Equine Field Surgery

Surgical Instruments 9

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Figure 2-12 Hand-held retractors. A, Army-Navy retractor. B, Hohmann retractor with two different blades.

C, Meyerd.ing retractor. D, Ribbon malleable retractor. (Reprinted with permission from Miltex Instrument Company,

Bethpage, N.Y., 2004.)

to ensure that damage is not caused to the struc- with delicate or heat-sensitive components cannot

tures being retracted. endure such an environment,

Gas sterilization using ethylene oxide is used

for instruments that may be damaged by the heat
General Pack for Field Surgery
of autoclaving. However, ethylene oxide produces

Box 2-1 lists the contents of a typical general pack noxious fumes that require special venting and

for field surgery. Throughout the remainder of

the book, only the instruments needed in addi-

tion to these are listed in the description of the ··~ ..

procedure.

INSTRUMENT PREPARATION

Most of the procedures described in this book

are classified as "clean" elective surgical proce- A

dures. Therefore, the instruments used should

be wrapped and sterilized. Before sterilization,

instruments are thoroughly cleaned, paying

particular attention to box locks, hinges, and

serrations, and disassembling instruments with

multiple components. Common sterilization

techniques include autoclaving, gas sterilization,

plasma sterilization, and cold sterilization. Auto-

claving, a technique using moist heat from steam,

is the sterilization method of choice for preparing

instruments for aseptic surgery. An indicator is

placed in the pack with the instruments and

should be checked by the surgeon to confirm the

sterility of the instruments. The high heat and B

humidity effectively sterilize most instruments, Figure 2-13 Self-retaining retractors. A, Weitlaner

but some surgical instruments and equipment retractors. B, Gelpi retractors.