McGee Micro Ear Forceps — Piston Crimping Forceps

McGee Micro Ear Forceps — Piston Crimping

William McGee, Memphis otologist who trained under John Shea Jr at the same Methodist Hospital where Shea performed the world’s first stapedectomy, modified Shea’s polyethylene piston design with an improved hook geometry that crimps mechanically around the incus long process rather than relying on a friction fit. The McGee forceps are the matched-pair crimping instrument designed to close the prosthesis hook onto the incus during stapedotomy.

Why crimping beats friction-fit

A friction-fit piston relies on the operator’s accurate sizing — too loose and the piston migrates over years, producing late hearing-deterioration after an initially successful operation. A crimped piston is mechanically locked onto the incus, eliminating the migration risk. McGee’s modification reduced the long-term failure rate of stapedotomy by approximately 5-10% in published series.

The two-step crimping technique

Piston positioned with the Shea spoon → first crimping forceps closes the hook to about 0.3 mm — light grip on the incus, allows angle adjustment → second crimping forceps closes the hook fully to 0.05 mm — locks the prosthesis on the incus. The two-step technique avoids the cartilage-erosion failure mode of a single hard crimp.