What Are Needle Holders?

Surgical instruments have made great advancements. To see some of the early instruments you would think you were looking at carpentry tools. Some with strange names, others with strange shapes. This is not true with needle holders. Built on the basic principal as the hemostat -- the needle holder has one function -- to hold a needle; a very specialized needle.

Hemostats

• A hemostat is a type of clamp used in surgery and throughout medicine for a variety of tasks. Hemostats are long and thin and vary in size, the 5-inch and 7-inch are the most popular. The clamping tip is long and it can be straight or curved. They have a ratchet lock between the handles and the finger rings are large enough to accommodate most fingers. These are popular tools with nurses and paramedics.

Needle Holders

• Needle holders, or needle drivers, are essentially specialized hemostats. Side-by-side they are similar in shape and design. Where a hemostat is a generalized tool, the needle holder is used for just one thing - sutures. They are the device that is used to hold the suture needle in place. They allow the physician to precisely place the needle and then drive it through the tissue to complete a stitch.

Comparison

• There are major differences between needle holders and hemostats. Where hemostats are long and thin, needle holders are short and slightly thicker. The clamping tip on hemostats are long and grooved. Needle holder tips are short; and may be lightly grooved or smooth.

  About the only thing they do have in common, is the similar look and the ratcheting lock.

Function

• Needle holders are used to hold the curved suture needle and to puncture it through the tissue to lace the suture thread through an incision. The ends can be pulled together to draw the skin edges together and then tie them off. Needle holders are an applied preference for the physician. Every doctor has their favorite and some will even purchase their own, just to have the one they want.