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ARTICLE
Year : 1961  |  Volume : 9  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 36

A holder needle


Ludhiana, India

Date of Web Publication31-Mar-2008

Correspondence Address:
Victor C Rambo
Ludhiana
India
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Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


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How to cite this article:
Rambo VC. A holder needle. Indian J Ophthalmol 1961;9:36

How to cite this URL:
Rambo VC. A holder needle. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 1961 [cited 2024 Mar 29];9:36. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?1961/9/2/36/39682

The finest movements of surgery are made with the fingers and thumb, not with the wrist and hand as a whole. In the usual method of sutur­ing, the needle is grasped by the needle holder which is held, more or less, in the palm of one's hand. The fine sharp needles of ophthalmic sur­gery, such as those made by Grieshaber, inevitably become dulled as they are grasped by the metal blades of the needle holder in order to pull them out through the tissues. There are some situations in operat­ing in which it is difficult for the needle holder to approach to insert and then to grasp the emerging needle.

Because of these considerations, we are presenting a needle mounted on a simple ring which can be held between thumb and forefinger. Most of those we have used have had one eye. Some have two eyes like those of the Singer surgical "sewing machine."

The needle is held by the ring, as mentioned above, between the finger and thumb, and is usable in all the 360 degree circle. It is protected from dulling since the sharp end does not have to be grasped by a conventional needle holder, but, once the thread is delivered, caught with a forceps and held, the needle is drawn backward like the sewing machine needle or the cobbler's awl. To make this a smooth­er procedure there are grooves along the needle to carry the thread and minimize resistance through the tissues.

Practice will show many uses for this "holder needle". With it one can make a single suture, a mattress suture, a double thread suture, and even a chain stitch.

I have used it, and am using it, in my plastic work on lids. Since it can, carry a long thread it can be used for putting in one suture after another more rapidly and accurately, I think, than can be done with the conven­tional needle and needle holder. I have used it in corneo-scleral and conjunctivo-tenons suturing and am perfecting my routines in its use. I think it can be used very effectively for corneal transplantations and scleral shortenings when skill has, through practice, been developed.

This needle requires special care and handling in preparation. It must be protected during sterilization like the points and blades of a cataract knife. We have not yet evolved a satisfactory way of holding the "holder needle", through the process of cleaning and sterilizing, that suffi­ciently protects the blades, but we are sure that this can be done.

I am convinced that the "holder needle" has a wide, potential use in assisting the surgeon to do his best work in approximating tissues in many procedures. It can be made in different curves and lengths. I present it to the profession in the hope that it may be useful to others as it has been, and is, to me.


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