New non-twist helicoid/spiral needle for deep placement

Abstract

When placing a suture into semi-rigid (i.e., tarsus, periosteum or tendon) tissues, especially ‘blindly’ and at a depth, needles must be grasped far back toward the shank, at which point even a spatulated type is round and tends to twist in the needle holder's grasp. Moreover, retrieval of the tip is often elusive. Finally, passage through a somewhat obliquely positioned area of the orbital wall forces one to hold the instrument at an awkward angle.

The newly described needle for this purpose attempts to remedy all of these shortcomings by (1) flattening the shank of a spatulated needle so that it tends not to rotate when grasped there; (2) shortening the radius of curvature gradually as the tip is approached (spiral quality) to facilitate retrieval; and (3) having each of the two needles of the double-armed suture helix minimally but oppositely so that slightly oblique applications will be made easier and the surgeon can select the needle that veers in the desired direction.

Exact suture and needle sizes have not as yet been worked out by the Look Medical Products Co., 7337 Phillips Street, Sarasota, FL 34243, USA, the company developing this product.

The author has no proprietary interest in this unit at present.

Key Words:

• Suture
• needle
• deep-tissue attachment