Cottle Swivel Knife — Cartilage Incision Set

Cottle Swivel Knife — for the Cartilage Cut

Maurice Cottle’s swivel knife is the instrument with which the cartilage is divided once both mucoperichondrial flaps have been elevated. The 5-millimetre angled blade rotates on its handle axis so the cut can be made along the long axis of the septum — vertical, horizontal, or curved — without changing the operator’s hand position. The technique was published in the 1950s and remains the standard cartilage-cut method in modern endonasal septoplasty.

The swivel mechanism

The hexagonal handle is keyed to a rotating blade head; the blade pivots through 90° during the cut so the operator follows the deviation rather than fighting it. In a high deviation the swivel lets the blade arc up-and-over the dorsal strut without compromising the L-strut that supports the nasal tip.

Replaceable blade or fixed

Both fixed-blade and disposable-blade variants are produced; the fixed-blade Cottle holds an edge through a full septorhinoplasty and is the variant most senior surgeons prefer for the haptic feedback the heavier handle gives.