Common Surgical Instruments (Part 1)

Surgical instruments carry out specific functions, such as manipulating tissues or facilitating access to them. Over time, many surgical instruments were developed. Some surgical instruments are designed for general surgery, while others are specific to a particular procedure.

The purpose of this quiz is to teach you how to identify surgical instruments used in the operating room and their common uses.

  • Question of

    A tube device with a light and a small camera is used to see the airways and lungs inside the body.

    • Bronchoscope
    • Hemostat
    • Forceps
    • Cystoscope

    Correct Wrong

    A bronchoscope allows you to view the inside of the airways and lungs. It can be flexible or rigid. Most often, a flexible scope is used. There is less than half an inch (1 centimeter) of width in the tube, and it is about 2 feet (60 centimeters) long.

  • Question of

    Handheld instruments with hinges used to grasp and hold objects.

    • Forceps
    • Hemostat
    • Rongeur
    • Retractor

    Correct Wrong

    Forceps are handheld, hinged instruments for grasping and holding objects. When the fingers are too large to grasp objects, or when many things need to be held simultaneously while the hands are performing a task, forceps are used.

  • Question of

    Small and extremely sharp blades used for surgery, anatomical dissection, or podiatry.

    • Scalpel
    • Electrosurgery
    • Retractor
    • Forceps

    Correct Wrong

    An instrument that consists of a small, sharp blade, scalpels are often used in surgical procedures, anatomical dissection, and podiatry. In the initial incision and cutting of tissue, scalpels are used.

  • Question of

    An instrument used to control bleeding in many surgical procedures.

    • Hemostat
    • Cystoscope
    • Retractor
    • Rongeur

    Correct Wrong

    Hemostats are surgical tools used to control bleeding during many surgical procedures. It is therefore common to line the first incision of surgery with hemostats, so that blood vessels are closed while they await ligation.

  • Question of

    The application of high-frequency electric current in surgery.

    • Electrosurgery
    • Insufflator
    • Rongeur
    • Hemostat

    Correct Wrong

    In electrosurgery, alternating polarity, high-frequency (radio frequency) current is applied to biological tissue in order to cut, coagulate, desiccate, or fulgurate tissue. During surgical operations, electrosurgical devices are often used to prevent blood loss.

  • Question of

    A thin, tube-like instrument for viewing inside the bladder and urethra.

    • Cystoscope
    • Bronchoscope
    • Insufflator
    • Rongeur

    Correct Wrong

    This thin, tube-like instrument is used to examine the bladder and urethra. The cystoscope may have a lens and a light for viewing, as well as a tool for removing tissue.

  • Question of

    A form of injector that transfers CO2 safely to the body of the patient.

    • Insufflator
    • Electrosurgery
    • Hemostat
    • Retractor

    Correct Wrong

    An insufflator injects CO2 safely into the body of the patient, usually the abdomen, to expand the working area and facilitate the use of surgical instruments and ease access to anatomy.

  • Question of

    During surgery it is used to remove blood from the operation area so that surgeons can view and work on it.

    • Suction
    • Insufflator
    • Bronchoscope
    • Rongeur

    Correct Wrong

    To enable surgeons to view and work on the area being operated on, surgeons suction blood from the area. After an intracranial hemorrhage, suction can also be used to remove blood that has accumulated in the skull.

  • Question of

    A surgical instrument is used to separate the edges of a surgical incision or wound.

    • Retractor
    • Suction
    • Forceps
    • Scalpel

    Correct Wrong

    As the name suggests, a retractor is a surgical instrument used to separate edges of an incision or wound and to hold back underlying organs and tissues to enable access to parts of the body under the incision.

  • Question of

    A heavy-duty surgical instrument is used for gouging out a bone.

    • Rongeur
    • Bronchoscope
    • Scalpel
    • Insufflator

    Correct Wrong

    In surgery, a rongeur is a sharp-edged, scoop-shaped surgical instrument used to gouge out bones. Using a rongeur, one can access the tissue underneath bone, commonly in the skull.