Primary

Cutting, Grinding, Clamping, Dissecting, Grasping and holding, Dilating and enlarging, Retracting, Probing, Suctioning.

These are the main functions that specific surgical instruments can perform and they are categorized in accordance with their specialty.

The perfect example of a cutting instrument is a set of scissors. Dissecting surgical instruments are typically used to cut just about any structure or separate skin. Dissectors can either be sharp or blunt. A scalpel is definitely an excellent example of sharp dissector and it is used in cutting skin and other soft structures. Good examples of blunt dissectors are back of knife handle, elevators and curettes. Forceps, tenacula and clamps are holding and clasping surgical instruments. Probing surgical instruments are likely to be used in order to go into the natural openings like the fistulas and the common bile duct. Dilating tools are utilized to broaden the dimensions of any opening which include the urethra or the cervical os. Retractors aid in clear visualization of the operative field and prevent trauma to many other tissues. The suction devices remove fluid and blood from any surgical operative field.

The suction devices eliminate fluid and blood from virtually any surgical operative field. It’s very vital that you count the numbers of the surgical instruments as there can be a chance of leaving any instruments in the patient. Moreover these surgical instruments ought to be counted anytime after surgical personnel are replaced during the operation.

Care and handling of Surgical Instruments

You will find there’s common problem with the surgical instruments since they’re invariably misused and as a result cause alignment problems.  Surgical Instruments should be checked by the members within the surgical team frequently to make sure a smooth operative procedure. Scissors need to be smooth and sharp and their edges need to be checked carefully for nicks, chips or dents. After the operative procedure is over, the members who are assigned to the cleaning and packaging works also must recheck those instruments. If any impairment is found in your surgical instruments, they ought to be sent instantly for repair. Surgical Instruments can last as long as 10 years if proper care is taken. But this all too varies according to the sterilizing method used to disinfect the surgical instruments and the manner in which those surgical instruments are used.

There are so many sterilizing options for surgical instruments like boiling, hot air oven, autoclaving as well as other gaseous disinfection methods. For sharp instruments autoclaving is a technique of choice. In case of plastic material and other blunt instruments, hot air oven or other gaseous sterilization methods are used. Every instrument needs to be sterilized after an operation otherwise it is going to get contaminated and affect each and everyone related to the surgery treatment including the patient.

Surgical Instruments that are of no use or have lost their efficacy must be replaced with a newer one in order to maintain the quality of the overall procedure. After using surgical  instruments you ought to keep them in a very dry and safe place so that it can be utilized in future operations.

To learn more about the types of Surgical Instruments that Precision Instruments and Services can supply your facility call 404-941-6601 Learn about: Metzenbaum Scissors here

Surgical Instruments “To Replace or To Repair”…

1. When a repair is more cost effective than replacing surgical instruments
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2. -How to decide when to replace damaged surgical instruments.

Lets work through this thought process about Surgical Instruments one step at a time:

1. In the past the old rule of thumb that has been hammered into the minds of buyers was “If the repair cost of an item exceeds 50% of its replacement cost, then it’s smarter to buy a new one than to repair the item”. This thought process has been fairly consistent and universal throughout the medical industry for the last 15+ years and you better believe that old habits die hard.
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   The truth of the matter today is that because of advanced technologies, current repair facility capabilities and greater access to replacement parts that many of the surgical instruments in service today do not need to be replaced unless there is excessive material loss to the point where the instrument can not be brought back to OEM specifications.
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2. Consumers are consistently programmed that “new is always better” and this is fed daily to consumers through commercial advertising on T.V. and other sources from businesses who primarily sell new and  “virtually disposable” products.
   
   It is true that in some cases when a product becomes outdated or when a significant technological medical advancement occurs that some products are rendered obsolete. However, in most cases today when you are dealing with durable surgical instruments where physical properties rarely change, most instruments are designed to be able to be repaired and where most functioning parts can be replaced by a skilled technician the fact is that the large majority of instruments in service today can be kept in service for a very long time with proper maintenance. One mistake that is often made in the field is that “if I replace this item, I will also be upgrading it at the same time” which in allot of cases is simply not true.
   Many of the best surgical instruments that are in use today have changed very little over the years from their original designs. At the same time higher quality materials are often being used to produce the instruments and the entire surgical instrument repair industry has evolved considerably with new tools and techniques which are commonly used in repairs today.
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   As a result medical facilities have allot more opportunities to have “Unrepairable Instruments” repaired due to these new techniques which were unavailable until just a few short years ago and largely remain inaccessible in mobile repair environments today.
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   Due to the evolution of these advanced capabilities many medical facilities are reconsidering their existing criteria for deciding whether to repair or replace surgical instruments. If you would like to see if Precision Instruments and Services can have a positive impact on your repair budget and repair your beyond repair surgical instruments contact us at 404-941-6601.

The Surgical Instrument Sales and Surgical Instrument Repair industry is a simple industry…

All that a Doctor wants is a Surgical instrument that simply functions properly. However, when questioned many doctors in medical institutions around the country continue to claim that their facilities simply don’t provide them with a surgical instrument that is:

1. consistently sharp
2. perfectly aligned
3. show no sighs of stress or cracks
4. don’t have worn blades
5. have tungsten-carbide inserts that are replaced often enough
6. etc…, etc…

This is an ever growing concern today that will likely grow as the popular National Health Care initiatives are pursued.

In the past this was not of great concern and there was a good reason why. When a surgical instrument broke or was damaged and needed to be repaired it was removed from the medical institution and sent back to the manufacturer with a request to “Repair or Replace.” This is around the time when you started to see the term “Beyond Repair” and the manufacturer would sell a new surgical instrument to the medical facility.

Ten plus years ago to repair a Surgical Instrument it meant lengthy delays and that a surgical instrument could be out of service for anywhere from a week or two up to eight weeks, and to replace it often meant sacrificing a potential healthy instrument for the sake of obtaining a new surgical instrument quickly. At that point in time complete tray and set refurbishing was virtually unknown and not a common practice, and due to the related down time when instruments were out for service/repairs, hospitals and medical centers were forced to keep extra sets in inventory at all times just to compensate for the absence of their damaged instruments. To a large extent this practice is still in place today.

To further complicate this entire scenario the surgical instrument repair efforts of many OEM’s were considered secondary to their surgical instrument manufacturing and sales processes. In short the surgical instrument repair processes was a necessary evil behind manufacturing and their surgical instrument repair divisions were seldom viewed as a profit centers. As a result very little attention was paid and very little education was provided to encourage long term surgical instrument maintenance or preventative maintenance. The end result yielded lengthy turnaround times and high on hand inventory minimums which translated to hospitals that purchased high levels of replacement/backup surgical instruments.

Today’s surgical instrument repair environment is completely different and the repair options are numerous.

Having access to a quality repair facility makes surgical instrument care ultra convenient, saves money and maximizes the life of every surgical instrument investment that has been made regardless of the size of the practice or facility.

A qualified surgical instrument repair facility can bring significant advantages to your medical facility. Some of them include:

1. Independent Repair Providers - Today many surgical instrument repair facilities are completely independent and many have the capability to repair just about any surgical, dental, veterinarian and beauty care instrument. As a result you can achieve “OEM Quality Repairs without the OEM price”™ which can save a medical facility tens of thousands of dollars plus per year.
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2. Benefits of Repair Facilities - Some of the benefits of using a surgical instrument repair facility include well seasoned repair technicians who repair thousands of surgical instruments per week. State of the art repair tools and techniques which did not exist a few years ago are now used. It is often difficult to duplicate these benefits in a mobile operation because of the limited space and resources. Some of these items include Glass Bead Sand Blasters, Electrostatic Insulating, diamond dusting and Laser Welding.
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3. Surgeons Satisfaction - A satisfied surgeon is the mark of a Quality Repair Facility. And all repair facilities should judge their level of success based on the their return rate of repaired items. The only way that you can truly ensure that all repairs are done properly is to have a separate Quality Control inspector than the actual Repair Technician. In almost every case you will only find this with the OEM Manufacturer of the Surgical Instrument or in a Surgical Instrument Repair Facility. You very rarely see this in a Surgical Instrument Mobile Repair environment.
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4. One Repair Provider Vs. Multiple Repair Providers – In almost every case where multiple repair providers are used it is very difficult to track surgical instrument repair deficiencies and repair errors due to the lack of lot control. When you form a deep relationship with a surgical instrument repair facility that has a defined Quality Control processes and each instrument is inspected by a Repair Technician and a separate Quality Control inspector you can expect significantly higher repair accountability and consistent quality repairs with your surgical instrument repair services. This saves you time and money.
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5. Reduction of Paperwork – There is a hard cost that is associated with generating and processing any type of paperwork in a medical facility. Some reports say that this cost can be as high as $50+ per transaction when repairing a surgical instrument. As a result if you are using a repair facility that can not repair all of your Instruments than you may be loosing more to processing paperwork than than you were saving using by using multiple vendors. Choose a facility that can repair all General, Specialty, Micro, Laparoscopic, Flexible & Rigid Endoscopes and Ophthalmic Instruments. This will greatly reduce your processing costs.

In conclusion preventive and planned maintenance on a Surgical Instrument should be viewed with a long term strategy which is intended to extend the value and life of a medical institutions most precious tools – Surgical Instruments.  By implementing tried and true surgical instrument repair strategies with a repair facility you can expect to extend the life of your precision instruments while reducing your on hand inventory.

A true (TBPMP) Tray Based Preventive Maintenance Plan can prevent costly life threatening surgical instruments that have not been repaired properly from making it into a surgery by screening 100% of your surgical instruments on a scheduled basis by multiple repair technicians. This will aid in facility efficiencies and translate to a higher quality surgical instrument repair at the same cost or slightly lower than a mobile operation will provide with your in house “Administrator” acting as a Quality Control inspector…

Why would you want to be your own Surgical Instrument Quality Control inspector if you do not have to?

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For more information on Precision Instruments and Services, LLC’s German or Pakistan  Surgical Instrument lines or to learn more about our Surgical Instrument Repair Services please contact our corporate office at 404-941-6601. If you are looking for individual purchases of Surgical Instruments visit Medical Instrument Sales where we have over 10 million different products for the health care industry.