Forceps - Thumb Forceps

Thumb Forceps

Thumb forceps are commonly held between the thumb and two or three fingers of one hand, with the top end resting on the first dorsal interosseous muscle (see dorsal interossei of the hand) at the base of the thumb and index finger. Spring tension at one end holds the grasping ends apart until pressure is applied. This allows one to quickly and easily grasp small objects or tissue to move and release it or to grasp and hold tissue with easily variable pressure. Thumb forceps are used to hold tissue in place when applying sutures, to gently move tissues out of the way during exploratory surgery and to move dressings or draping without using the hands or fingers.

Thumb forceps can have smooth tips, cross-hatched tips or serrated tips (often called 'mouse's teeth'). Common arrangements of teeth are 1×2 (two teeth on one side meshing with a single tooth on the other), 7×7 and 9×9. Serrated forceps are used on tissue; counter-intuitively, teeth will damage tissue less than a smooth surface (you can grasp with less overall pressure). Smooth or cross-hatched forceps are used to move dressings, remove sutures and similar tasks.