Belluci Self Retaining Retractors, Micro Ear and Myringoplasty

What a Belluci self retaining retractor is

A belluci self retaining retractor is a small ring handled retractor that locks itself open, with blunt prongs on one arm and a short solid blade on the other. It is named for Anthony Bellucci, and catalogues spell it both ways: Belluci with one C, which is what our own listing and our own URL carry, and Bellucci with two, which is how most suppliers write it. Both mean this instrument.

It is also sold as the Bellucci-Wullstein, because the layout is a Wullstein frame with one arm changed from prongs to a blade. The thing to know before ordering is that it is the SMALL one. If you need a retractor to hold a mastoid flap back, this is not it, and the Plester on the same tray is.

Key design features

Fine, and why that is the point

This is the smallest asymmetric retractor we make. A retractor is not better for being bigger: in an endaural or a small post aural opening, a frame built for a mastoid flap stretches the incision further than the operation needs, and the tissue remembers it. The Belluci opens a short distance firmly and then stops, which is the right behavior when the whole field is a few centimeters across.

Blunt prongs, on purpose

The prongs on this pattern are blunt rather than sharp. In the ear you are often working within a few millimeters of the facial nerve and of canal skin that tears rather than stretches, and a sharp prong that slips in that company is worse than a blunt one that holds slightly less well. The prongs are close set so the grip is spread rather than concentrated at a point.

The small solid blade

The other arm carries a continuous blade with a rolled edge instead of prongs. Soft tissue held at two points bulges between them; held along a length it stays flat. On an instrument this size the blade is small, and it is still the part that keeps the margin out of a field you are looking at through a microscope.

One piece, with nothing to come loose

Frame, arms, prongs and blade are made as one. No screwed on blade, no pinned carrier. On an instrument that is sprung open under load and then run through a washer several hundred times, a screw that backs off a quarter turn is a blade sitting at the wrong angle, and nobody notices until it is open in a patient.

What to tell us when you order one

This product carries no size attribute on our site, so rather than print a spread we hold no data for, here is what to tell us.

Where it is used

It is chosen for the SIZE of the opening rather than for the specialty, which is why it turns up outside the ear as well as in it.

What it holds, and what it must not pinch

A retractor that holds itself open holds whatever is in the prongs for the length of the case, and in the ear the second column is the short one.

How it compares with the rest of the ear family

Five names, and two of them are the same instrument. Worth being clear about before ordering.

Materials and finish

Every belluci retractor we make is cut from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number, because the number on a certificate tells a surgeon nothing about whether the lock still holds after two hundred autoclave cycles, and the answer to that is in the teeth and the finish rather than in the alloy.

On an instrument this size the lock is the whole thing. There is less steel in the frame and less leverage in the handles, so a lock that rounds off even slightly begins to creep under load, and a retractor that creeps in a 20mm field is useless. The teeth are cut and then hardened. The prongs are ground and polished by hand, because a burr on a blunt prong is a sharp prong you did not order.

Caring for it

Open the arms fully before it goes near a washer. Closed on itself it traps blood in the lock teeth, and dried blood in a lock is why these instruments start to slip. Brush the hinge and every tooth, then ultrasonic with a neutral pH enzymatic detergent.

Rinse in deionized water, dry fully with the arms open, autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius, and lubricate the hinge after drying rather than before. Test the lock by opening it halfway and squeezing the arms together: on a fine instrument any give at all is too much. We replace a crept lock inside the three years.

Ordering and wholesale

Every Belluci retractor we sell is made in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalogue houses. Order one for a single tray, or in quantity for a hospital list or a distributor line; we do OEM work under your own brand and your own item numbers, and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours if you send a sample. Stock items ship from our own workshop. Backorder items take 10 to 12 working days to make. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Belluci self retaining retractor used for?

Holding a short, shallow opening in ear surgery open without anyone having to hold it. In practice that means myringoplasty, micro ear work, endaural approaches and middle ear reconstruction. The blunt prongs hold one margin and the small solid blade keeps soft tissue off the other.

Is it spelled Belluci or Bellucci?

Bellucci, with two Cs, is the correct spelling of the surgeon name, and it is what most suppliers print. Our own listing and our own web address carry Belluci with one C and we have left them that way on purpose, because changing the address would break every link to this page that already exists. Either spelling will find it, and neither is a different instrument.

What is a Bellucci Wullstein retractor?

The same instrument as this one. The Wullstein is the compact ear retractor with prongs on both arms; swap one arm for a solid blade and you have the Bellucci layout, so catalogues often sell it under the double name. If a list specifies a Bellucci-Wullstein, this is the product.

How small is it, and what is it for?

It is the smallest asymmetric retractor on this page, built for an opening a few centimeters across rather than a mastoid flap. This product does not carry a size attribute on our site, so we will not print a spread we cannot stand behind: tell us the operation and we will confirm the travel from the workshop. What we can say is that it is smaller than both Plesters and smaller than the Wullstein.

Is it self retracting or does it need holding?

It holds itself. Self retaining and self retracting are the same idea under two names: the arms lock where you set them and stay there until released, so no hand and no assistant is tied up. The opposite is a hand held retractor, which somebody has to pull on for the whole case.

Related products and categories

Where a mastoid flap has to be held back, the Plester mastoid retractor is the bigger asymmetric frame and the Plester left solid blade retractor is its left handed pair. For the plain self retaining frame with sharp prongs on both arms, see the Williger self retaining retractor. The rest of the family sits in self retaining retractors, and the ear patterns are listed under ear instruments.