Adson Forceps, 1×2 Teeth or Serrated, 12 cm and 15 cm

What the adson forceps is

An adson forceps is the small thumb forceps that sits on almost every closure tray. It is about 12 cm long, with a wide flat grip where your thumb and forefinger land, tapering to a short fine tip. It is made by Adas Instruments in high quality medical grade stainless steel, and it is reusable and fully autoclavable.

It is named for Alfred Washington Adson, the American neurosurgeon at the Mayo Clinic who drew it. Catalogues list it as an adson tissue forceps when it carries teeth, an adson dressing forceps when it does not, and an adson thumb forceps, an adson pickup forceps or simply adson pickups in the operating room, pickups being the American word for a thumb forceps.

The important thing is what it does not have. No lock, no ratchet, no catch. The jaws close by finger pressure and nothing else, so the force on the tissue is whatever you decide it is, moment to moment. That is why a thumb forceps is used on skin and a clamp is not.

Key design features of the adson forceps

• Two jaw builds. 1×2 interlocking teeth, or fine cross serrations with no teeth at all.
• No locking mechanism. A pure thumb forceps. You feel the tissue, not a spring.
• Wide flat thumb grip. Broad and ribbed, so it holds through a wet glove.
• Short working tip. The taper is sharp, which puts the tip where you are looking instead of under your hand.
• Two lengths. 12 cm for surface work, 15 cm when there is a little depth to cross.
• Satin finish. A polished instrument throws the lamp straight back at you.

The grip is the part people underrate. A round handle makes you squeeze to stop it rolling, and squeezing is what crushes a skin edge. This flat grip sits between the pad of the thumb and the side of the finger, which gives a firm hold at low force.

Adson forceps sizes and build options

Every figure below is a build we ship. Imperial is given beside metric because buyers in the United States search in inches.

Nothing is listed above that we do not hold. Most buyers take the 12 cm, which is the length the pattern was drawn at. If you need a build that is not here, ask: a change of length is a tooling change, not a new instrument.

Uses of the adson forceps by specialty

The same job comes up under a lot of names. Specialty on the left, because that is how a purchasing office searches. Procedure on the right, because that is how a surgeon searches. Same instrument.

The serrated build travels furthest outside surgery. It ends up on dressing trolleys and laboratory benches, because it handles gauze and fine material without piercing anything.

Tissue the adson forceps handles

This instrument carries no suture and no needle, so the only question that matters is what it is holding. That is what decides teeth or serrations, and getting it wrong is what leaves a mark.

Buying one pair and closing skin? Take the 1×2 teeth in 12 cm. Buying two? Make the second one serrated. Those two cover almost everything a closure tray is asked to do.

How it compares with other patterns

These sit next to each other on a tray and they are not interchangeable.

One term worth clearing up. A rat tooth forceps is not a pattern, and an adson forceps is what most people mean by it. It is trade shorthand for any thumb forceps with interlocking teeth, and this is the one most people mean by it. If a catalogue offers you a rat tooth forceps, ask which pattern and which tooth count.

Materials and finish

The instrument is made in high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. Every pair is passivated and boil tested before packing, and the finish is satin rather than mirror, which keeps the tip readable against wet tissue under a bright lamp.

The grade matters here more than it looks. The tip is thin and short, so steel that is too soft lets the teeth splay after a few hundred cycles and the pair stops meeting. Steel that is too hard chips a tooth instead, which is worse, because a chipped tooth tears. The grade sits between the two.

Adson forceps care and sterilization

Rinse in cool water straight after use so blood does not dry between the teeth. Clean with a neutral pH enzymatic detergent and an ultrasonic bath, rinse in deionized water, dry fully, then steam autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius. Do not use an abrasive pad on the satin finish.

Before it goes back in the set, hold it up to the light and close it slowly. On the toothed build the tooth should drop cleanly between the two opposing teeth with no daylight beside it. On the serrated build the two faces should meet along their whole length. A pair that no longer meets will drop tissue mid suture, and that is the failure you find at the worst moment rather than at the bench.

Ordering and wholesale

This pattern is supplied by Adas Instruments to hospitals, surgical distributors and OEM buyers, in single units and in bulk. The item code is AC-41.21 and it is printed in the size table above so a procurement search finds it. Backorder items dispatch in 10 to 12 working days. Every instrument carries a three year replacement against manufacturing defects.

For wholesale and OEM orders, instruments ship unpackaged in bulk or individually poly bagged, and laser marking with a distributor code or a hospital asset number is available on the shaft. Tell us the quantity, the jaw build and the marking you need and the quotation comes back with the lead time for that run.

Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What are Adson forceps used for?

It holds and moves skin, fascia and soft tissue while the surgeon sutures, dissects or dresses a wound. The 1×2 toothed build grips skin edges during closure. The serrated build handles gauze, packing and tissue you do not want to pierce.

What are the different types of Adson forceps?

Three, and they are not interchangeable. The toothed build carries 1×2 interlocking teeth for skin and fascia. The dressing build has fine cross serrations and no teeth. The Brown build replaces them with several rows of fine teeth for a wider, gentler hold on flaps.

What are Adson forceps without teeth used for?

Handling anything a tooth would damage: gauze, packing, sponges, mucosa, graft edges and fine suture. The serrated jaw grips by friction, so nothing is pierced. It needs a little more closing pressure than the toothed build for the same hold.

What are the key differences between Adson and Brown forceps?

The jaw. This pattern has one tooth meeting two, so the grip is concentrated at a point. A Brown has several rows of fine teeth, so the same closing pressure spreads across a wider face. Brown for thin flaps, Adson for skin edges and fascia.

Are Adson forceps the same as surgical pickups?

Yes. Pickups is the operating room word for a thumb forceps, so an adson pickup forceps, adson pickups and this instrument are all the same thing. Search either way and you land here.

Related products and categories

Surgeons who work with the adson forceps usually compare it against the adson forceps tungsten carbide, the adson brown forceps and the adson brown forceps tungsten carbide. The whole family sits in dressing and tissue forceps, and this pattern is also listed under facelift and neck lift instruments.