Brünings-Brunk Septum Instrument — Cartilage Crusher

Brünings-Brunk Septum Instrument — Cartilage Morselliser

The Brünings-Brunk septum instrument is the cartilage morselliser used in the modified Killian submucous-resection technique: harvested septal cartilage is fed between the jaws, the jaws are crushed closed, and the morsellised cartilage is delivered for reinsertion as a soft graft for filling a septal perforation or supporting a depressed dorsum. The Brunk modification adds a controlled-closure stop to Brünings’ original design so the cartilage is not crushed to paste — it is reduced to a 1-2 mm chip matrix that retains some structural memory.

Cartilage-graft physiology

Morsellised septal cartilage is the workhorse graft material of modern rhinoplasty — used for radix grafts, dorsal onlays, columellar struts and small perforation patches. Cartilage that has been crushed too hard loses chondrocyte viability and resorbs within 18 months; the Brünings-Brunk’s controlled-stop closure produces a graft that retains structural memory for 5+ years in published series.

Sterilisation

The instrument is steam-autoclaved between cases; the controlled-stop mechanism is rinsed in saline before drying to prevent salt accumulation in the stop.