• A Samy Youssef and Harry R van Loveren.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33606, USA. ayoussef@hsc.usf.edu
• Neurosurgery. 2005 Jul 1; 57 (1 Suppl): 199-202; discussion 199-202.

ObjectiveIn this technical note, we report our results with a newly designed retractor blade that can be directly applied for the retraction and repositioning of cerebral blood vessels and delicate neural structures.MethodsThis new malleable retractor with a semicircular tip was designed to fit in the flexible arms of a self-retaining retractor system. After prototype evaluation and optimization in laboratory studies, we used the new retractor in 15 patients during surgical procedures that included retraction of the internal carotid artery during aneurysm clipping, expansion of the surgical window, and transposition of cranial nerves.ResultsNo intraoperative injuries occurred to neurovascular structures. The retractor blade remained stable on pulsating vessels during the procedure and largely preserved the vessel diameter.ConclusionThe new retractor incorporates the existing advantages offered by flexible self-retaining retractor blades with those features that adapt to blood vessel retraction. Rather than concentrating force at one point as typical retractors do, the semicircular tip distributes the retraction force over multiple points along its circumference.

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