The health care community today owes its success and effectiveness to the tools and equipment that help make intricate medical procedures possible. In fact, it is believed that the global market for surgical equipment will exceed a figure of $7 million by the end of 2016, a whopping number indeed! The reason behind the thriving medical instrument industry that we witness all around us today is the sheer indispensable nature that these tools hold. I mean, there really is no way that operations and procedures can be thought possible without the aid that these amazing tools provide. In fact, modern surgical instruments have truly ushered mankind into its golden era of health and safety.

But when you come to think of it, given the level of dependency that we have on these tools, how well do we really know them? Ask yourself this one simple question - are you really aware of the different kind of surgical and operating room instruments that exist to ensure our safety and wellbeing? The answer is NO right?

Well, here is a simple guide to the three basic types of surgical instruments out there. These broad categories do not cover them all, but still will give you a very clear idea of what medical and surgical tools are all about!

Scissors

Surgical scissors happen to be one of the most important weapons in the arsenal of a doctor. These medical instruments come in a variety of types and each one serves a specific purpose during the course of a surgery. There are scissors with sharp, pointed ends and there are scissors with blunt blades. Then there are scissors with straight blades and there are those with curved ones. Then there are suture scissors used to cut bandages and Mayo scissors used to cut hard biological tissue like fascia and heavy muscles. Metzenbaum scissors are the more refined variety and are used to cut through soft skin. As you can see, the types are many and their uses vary.

Forceps

Forceps are similar to scissors but they do not have their cutting edge. They are used to grasp and hold delicate organs and tissues to prevent them from slipping away. They are generally used to hold those objects during a surgical operation that cannot be held by a human hand due to their size or location. Forceps are also of many different varieties and they too have varied uses. There are forceps that are specially designed for use during the delivery of a baby and have rounded ends like spoons. Then there are tissue forceps that are used to hold bodily tissue and thus have either smooth or broad serrated ends.

Retractors

These medical instruments are used to spread or separate any region of the body or tissue during surgery. They help the doctors in keeping the incision open and having a clear field while they operate on the diseased area. They are also of different kinds like self retaining retractors, hand held retractors, deaver retractors and the like. You can learn all about them by visiting MedicalDeviceStore.com.