Surgical Towel Clamp/Towel Clip

DESCRIPTION

In the sterile environment of an operating room, precision is everything. A Surgical Towel Clamp (or Towel Clip) is a fundamental instrument designed to secure surgical drapes to the patient’s skin or to each other, ensuring the surgical site remains isolated and sterile throughout a procedure.

Key Features and Design

While designs vary, most towel clamps share a few signature characteristics:

• Finger Ring Handles: Much like a pair of scissors, these allow for a steady, controlled grip.

• Ratchet Locking Mechanism: This is the “click” you hear. It allows the surgeon to lock the instrument at various levels of tension, ensuring it doesn’t slip during the operation.

• Opposing Tips: Depending on the type, these can be sharp and piercing or blunt and non-perforating.

  Clinical Use & Precautions

  1. Isolation: Their primary job is to create a “window” of sterile field around the incision site.

  2. Cable Management: They are frequently used to keep cautery cords, suction tubes, and fiber-optic cables from sliding off the table.

  3. The “Single-Use” Rule: Once a perforating clip (like a Backhaus) is applied and then removed, it is considered contaminated because its tips have touched the patient’s skin. It must be handed off the field and not reused during that procedure.