Potts-Smith Dressing Forceps 25cm — Aortic Arch Salvage

Potts-Smith Dressing Forceps — 25cm Aortic Arch Salvage

The 25cm-labelled Potts-Smith is the salvage-aortic-surgery forceps — used when a previous aortic operation has produced complications (graft infection, anastomotic pseudo-aneurysm, retrograde aortic dissection) requiring re-do surgery through hostile tissue planes. Re-do aortic surgery is the highest-risk cardiac-surgical operation, with re-sternotomy bleeding risk, dense adhesions obscuring landmarks, and the time pressure of cardiopulmonary-bypass anticoagulation. The 25cm forceps’s extra reach lets the operator work at depth without bringing the hand into the wound that may be bleeding.

Re-do sternotomy technique

Re-do cardiac surgery begins with controlled sternal re-entry — the oscillating saw used for primary sternotomy is replaced by techniques that avoid the right ventricular or aortic injury that produces catastrophic bleed at entry. Once the sternum is re-opened the 25cm Potts-Smith handles the adhered pericardial-cardiac tissues without forcing the operator’s hand into the field. The extra-long forceps is the right tool for the lateral-of-cardiac-table dissection that re-do surgery requires.

Outcome dependencies

Re-do cardiac mortality (12-18%) correlates with operator experience, anaesthesia management, and instrument fit — the latter is the variable Fizza Surgical can directly contribute to.