Embryotomy Instrument Set, 8 Pieces

What an embryotomy instrument set is

An embryotomy instrument set is a group of heavy obstetric instruments used to reduce the size of a baby who has already died in the birth canal, so that the baby can be delivered vaginally when labor is obstructed. Google’s own summary describes it as a specialized kit for rare emergency scenarios, used to manage severe obstructed labor while minimizing trauma to the mother. That last part is the whole purpose. The operation is done for the mother’s safety.

It is rare where cesarean section is quick and safe. It is not rare everywhere. In regions where a woman may arrive after days of obstructed labor, with the baby already dead and the uterus infected or close to rupture, an embryotomy procedure can be the safer route than opening the abdomen. Obstetric teams in those hospitals, and the programs that equip them, are the people who order this tray.

One thing must be clear, because search results blur it. This is the human obstetric set. Much of what turns up for embryotomy online is veterinary: wire saws and knives for calves. None of that is here, and this embryotomy set is not suited to veterinary work.

Google lists a pair of Dubois scissors and sponge forceps in some versions of this tray. Ours carries neither. Sponge forceps will be on any labor ward already, and the scissors can be added when you order.

Why keep a complete tray for something so rare? Because the case does not wait. When a woman arrives with obstructed labor and a baby who has died, the team needs every instrument in one box, checked and sterile, not a search through the store room for a perforator nobody has seen in a year. With any rare tray, an incomplete set tends to be treated as no set at all, and the patient is referred onward, often over a long road. A complete embryotomy instrument set on the shelf keeps that decision in the hospital where the woman already is.

Key design features

Two perforators

The Smellie and the Naegele, both 25 cm. A perforator opens the skull of the dead baby so that the head can collapse and pass. The Smellie has scissor-like handles; the Naegele is the other classic pattern. Two are carried because obstetricians trained in different schools reach for different ones.

Braun cranioclast

42 cm, upwards, the heaviest instrument in the tray. Once the skull is opened, the cranioclast grips it firmly so that traction can be applied without the instrument slipping, which is what protects the mother’s tissues.

Braun decapitating hook

30 cm. It is used in a neglected transverse lie after fetal death, the situation in which no other vaginal delivery is possible. It is the instrument in this set that is used least, and it is carried for the case that needs nothing else.

Holding and retrieval forceps

The Willet-Martel scalp flap forceps, 19 cm, upwards, holds the scalp. The Iowa tenaculum forceps, 26 cm, recorded for the amnion, grips the membranes. A straight bone holding forceps, 20 cm, and a curved Winter ovum forceps, 28 cm, Fig.1, lift out fragments and retained tissue.

What is in the tray, piece by piece

Read off our own pattern record for item AD-95611. Eight pieces, eight patterns, the box counted separately.

Where the set is used

Every use below is after fetal death has been confirmed, and only when a vaginal delivery is safer for the mother than surgery.

What it does, and what it must not be asked to do

The limits on this tray are absolute, and they are the first thing an obstetric team checks.

How it compares with the other obstetric sets

Our obstetric trays go from the everyday to the rare. This is the rarest.

Materials and finish

Every piece in this embryotomy instrument set is made from high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. We do not publish a grade number. These instruments carry more force than anything else we make for gynecology, so the question that matters is whether the cranioclast jaws stay aligned under load for years. That comes from the forging and the fitting, not from a number on paper.

The cranioclast and the hook are forged heavier than the obstetrical forceps, because they are pulled on harder. The perforator points are left sharp, so they should be guarded in storage. Everything has a satin finish so nothing glares under a field lamp in a district hospital.

The box itself matters more than usual. This tray may sit unopened for a long time, so it is packed in a closed steel box rather than an open rack, and the contents table on this page makes a missing piece easy to spot at a glance.

Caring for it

Clean the set completely after every use, even if it may not be needed again for months. Tissue left in the cranioclast serrations is the thing that ruins this tray in storage. Open all joints for washing and the autoclave.

Cover the perforator points before the tray goes back on the shelf. Check the set over every six months, when nobody is in a hurry, because when this box is next opened nobody will have time to look for a missing piece.

Ordering and wholesale

Every piece of the embryotomy instrument set is made by Adas Instruments in our own workshop and sold direct, which is why the price sits where it does against the catalog 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. Send us a sample and we will hold a run to your pattern rather than ours. 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 does embryotomy mean?

In human obstetrics it means an operation that reduces the size of a baby who has died, so that the baby can be delivered through the birth canal when labor is obstructed. It is done to protect the mother.

When is an embryotomy procedure used?

After fetal death, in obstructed labor, when a cesarean section is not possible or would carry more risk for the mother. It is most common where women reach care late after a long labor.

Is this the veterinary embryotomy set?

No. Our embryotomy instrument set is the human obstetric set. Veterinary embryotomy uses wire saws and knives and is a different range.

Does the set include Dubois scissors?

No. Some versions of this tray carry Dubois scissors and sponge forceps. Ours does not, and either can be added to the order.

What instruments are used for fetotomy?

Fetotomy is another name for the same operation. In the human set: perforators, a cranioclast, a decapitating hook and holding forceps, which is what this tray carries.

Related products and categories

The special obstetric instruments set carries six obstetrical forceps plus the Braun hook and cranioclast. The delivery instrument set is the cord tray for every normal birth, and the uterine evacuation instrument set clears retained tissue.

All of our trays for this specialty sit under gynecology and obstetrics instrument sets, and the full range of procedure trays is under surgical instrument sets.