Freeman Face Lift Retractor, 22 mm and 36 mm, In Line or Offset Prongs

What the freeman face lift retractor is

The freeman face lift retractor is a hand held retractor that takes a facial skin flap on four sharp prongs and holds it out of the way while the surgeon dissects underneath. It is the working instrument of a facelift, and there is usually more than one of them on the table.

Google and the instrument catalogs both write it as a Freeman rhytidectomy rake retractor, and the word rake is the useful one. It says what the head looks like and what it does: a short row of points that engages tissue the way a garden rake engages soil, spreading the pull across several holds instead of putting all of it on one.

That is the whole argument for prongs over a blade on a facelift flap. A blade has to be held against the tissue; a rake is held by the tissue, and the assistant can let the tension come off their wrist and onto the instrument.

Key design features of this rake retractor

Four features decide how this pattern behaves, and two of them are choices you make when you order.

• Four sharp prongs. Enough holds to spread the load, few enough to be placed accurately.
• In line or offset. In line prongs sit straight across for an even pull. Offset prongs are bent, so the traction can be angled into a corner a straight head cannot reach.
• Two head widths. 22 mm and 36 mm, both carried in our own record.
• A flat handle. The load sits across the palm rather than in a pinch grip, which matters on an operation measured in hours.

Freeman face lift retractor sizes

Everything in the table below is our own product record, not a figure copied from somebody else.

Our record carries the four head options and nothing else. It gives no overall length, and other catalogs put this pattern at about 7 inches or 18 cm, which is not repeated here as ours because it has not been measured here. Ask and it will be.

Where a freeman retractor is used

A freeman retractor turns up wherever a flap has been raised and has to stay raised.

What the prongs hold, and what they do not

Sharp prongs are the right answer for some tissue and the wrong answer for the rest of it.

How the freeman rhytidectomy rake retractor compares with the rest of the family

Five of the six rows below are instruments we make, and they are laid out here because the choice between a facelift rake retractor and a smooth blade gets made on nearly every case.

Materials and finish

Made from high quality medical grade stainless steel, satin finished so the operating light does not throw a reflection off the shaft and into the surgeon eye at exactly the moment they are looking into a dark pocket. The steel itself is made to a German specification. The prongs are ground to a point and then polished, because a burr left on a prong tears a flap instead of holding it.

Care and sterilization

Clean with a soft brush under running water, working between the prongs where fat and blood collect, then rinse in deionized water and dry fully before autoclaving. Store on a rack or under a tip guard so the points are not resting against anything. Check the prongs each time: a point that has been bent even slightly out of line will take the flap at a different depth from its neighbors, and that is how a skin edge gets torn.

Ordering and wholesale

Adas Instruments makes the rhytidectomy retractor patterns to order and supplies hospitals, surgical centers and distributors across the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. State the head width and whether you want in line or offset prongs when you order. Bulk and wholesale pricing is available, and instruments held on backorder ship in 10 to 12 working days. Every instrument carries a three year replacement warranty against manufacturing defects. Certifications: CE. Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system.

Frequently asked questions

What is a freeman face lift retractor used for?

Holding a raised facial skin flap back so the surgeon can see and work under it. It is used through a rhytidectomy from the moment the flap is lifted until it is laid down again, and the same instrument is used on neck lift flaps and in breast reconstruction where a similar flap has to be held without a clamp.

Is a freeman face lift retractor the same as a freeman rake retractor?

In normal use, yes. Catalogs write this four pronged pattern as a Freeman face lift retractor, a Freeman facelift rake retractor and a Freeman rake retractor, and mean the same instrument. One warning: the name Freeman is also attached to a separate blade style flap retractor, so Freeman on its own can point at two different things. If prongs matter to you, say prongs.

In line or offset prongs on a freeman face lift retractor?

In line for an even, straight pull on an open flap, which is most of a facelift. Offset when the pull has to come from an angle, typically deep in the mastoid corner or under the mandibular border, where a straight head would have to be tilted and would lose half its grip doing it.

22 mm or 36 mm?

36 mm for the long open part of the flap, where a wide head means fewer repositions. 22 mm where the pocket is tight or the flap is thin, because a narrow head can be placed accurately and puts less tissue under tension at once. Most sets carry both.

Will the prongs damage the flap?

They pierce it, which is the point, and in a facelift they are placed in tissue that is about to be trimmed or in the deep surface rather than the skin face. Where nothing may be pierced at all, use a smooth blade pattern instead. That is a real difference between the two halves of this family, not a preference.

Related products and categories

Buyers who order the freeman face lift retractor usually order alongside it the freeman face lift retractor small, the freeman face lift retractor adamson model and the freeman flap retractor. The whole family sits in hooks and retractors, and this pattern is also listed under facelift and neck lift instruments.