Plastic Surgery Retractors & Skin Hooks

Types of plastic surgery retractors

Skin hooks and nasal hooks

Skin hooks hold skin at one or two points instead of clamping it; double prongs lift a flap edge flat, single prongs give one precise point. In rhinoplasty a double-pronged hook retracts the skin flap while the soft tissue is redraped, and Joseph double hooks mobilize nasal mucosa in septal surgery — see the Joseph skin hook. Short nasal hooks such as the Kilner nasal hook retract the alar rim; the Cottle tenaculum hook has a fine, sharp angled tip.

Nasal retractors

The Aufricht retractor lifts the dorsal skin to expose the upper third of the dorsum and the cartilaginous vault; it also comes double-ended, with suction and with a fiber optic light guide. Weighted retractors such as the Gruber retractor hold the columellar flap by a chain and weight for hands-free retraction in open rhinoplasty; Cottle rakes, Converse alar and Cronin lip and nostril retractors complete the nasal group.

Breast and lighted retractors

A lighted retractor carries a light guide on the blade so deep pockets are lit from inside, and many add a suction channel — see the Tebbetts fiber optic lighted breast retractor. The Tebbetts double-ended breast retractor has a smaller end for after the incision and a larger end for greater retraction.

Facial, eyelid and body retractors

The Freeman flap retractor serves rhytidectomy and mammaplasty; the Maxwell flap retractor and the Yancoskie coronal lift retractor carry sharp prongs for flaps; the Desmarres retractor holds the eyelid everted; Yancoskie abdominoplasty and Saldanha-Solz retractors lift the abdominal flap.

Rakes and hand-held retractors

Rake retractors hold a wound edge with a row of prongs — blunt for muscle, fine and sharp for skin. The Senn retractor is double-ended, with an angled blade at one end and a three-prong rake at the other; Langenbeck, Czerny and Cope retractors complete the hand-held group, and nerve hooks are made bayonet or blunt.

Maxillofacial, oral, self-retaining and orthopedic retractors

Obwegeser channel, ramus and soft tissue retractors serve the sagittal split and Le Fort osteotomies; Minnesota and Orringer retractors hold the cheeks and tongue in oral surgery; Weitlaner and Holzheimer retractors are self-retaining; Hohmann, Meyerding and Deaver are general and orthopedic retractors that also sit in this category.

How to choose a plastic surgery retractor

• Tissue held. Skin edge or flap → skin hooks and fine rakes; nasal skin and dorsum → nasal retractors; breast pocket → long breast retractors; muscle → blunt rakes.
• Hands-free or hand-held. Weighted and self-retaining retractors hold on their own; hand-held blades and hooks need an assistant.
• Light and suction. Lighted retractors light deep pockets; suction channels clear smoke and fluid.
• Prongs. Single or double hooks, sharp or blunt; rakes from two to many prongs.

What are plastic surgery retractors used for?

Open and closed rhinoplasty, breast augmentation and reconstruction, facelift and brow lift, blepharoplasty, abdominoplasty, flap surgery, orthognathic and oral surgery, and general wound exposure.

How BusinessMed retractors are made

German stainless steel with a satin, non-reflective finish; lighted retractors carry a fiber optic light guide and some an insulated coating, named on the page. Reusable, autoclavable, 5-year warranty.