Surgical Elevators for Everything from Major to Minor Procedures
At first glance, surgical elevators may seem like simple medical tools. However, they play a major role in numerous types of surgeries when bones or tissues need scraping or lifting. These tools can do the delicate work of separating mucosa from cartilage in nose surgeries to lifting and stripping ribs in cardiothoracic surgeries. They are used primarily in hospitals, specialty facilities medical clinics and dentist offices.

Types of Surgical Elevators

Surgical elevators are mostly used to separate the periosteum from bone or mucosa from cartilage. Following are some of the main types and uses for surgical elevators:

ENT – nasal surgery, reconstructive surgery such as cleft palate correction, mastoidectomy, correct throat disorders, elevate annular ligament during ear surgery, etc.
Orthopedic – lift periosteum off bone, dissect soft tissue, perform podiatry procedures, etc.
Rib elevators and strippers – remove connective tissue from rib surface before cutting bone with rib shears
Dental – remove impacted teeth, remove fractured teeth roots, split teeth, remove intra radicular bone, etc.

Also available are finely balanced, delicate surgical elevators used in neural and vascular surgeries that involve soft tissues.

Primary Features

Most surgical and dental facilities have a variety of surgical elevators when they perform different kinds of surgeries. Each elevator has unique features like the following:

Primary use – ENT, orthopedic, thoracic surgeries, vascular surgeries, dental
Handle curvature and shape – straight or curved; round or flat
Handle length – 6 to 34 inches (longer elevators primarily used for surgeries involving thicker bones like ribs)
Type of tips – L-shape, curved, straight
Direction of tip curves – right or left angles
Blade features – sharp, semi-sharp, or blunt; L-shape, straight or curved; chisel shaped; mixture like a blunt curved blade or a rib elevator and stripper with a bone gripper on one end and a curved chisel-shaped blade on the other

Surgical Elevators to Fit

The basic design of all surgical elevators is a handle with a specially shaped blade at one or both ends. The handles are often modified with grooves or have a shape that ensures the surgeon can maintain a sure grip while performing a surgical procedure. With many options available, it is possible to find a surgical elevator to fit every need.