Freeman Rake Retractor, 40 mm, 4 Sharp Prongs, In Line or Offset

What the freeman rake retractor is

The freeman rake retractor is a hand held retractor whose working end is a row of four sharp prongs, and it is the instrument a facelift is actually performed around. Our own record carries it at 40 mm across, with the prongs set in line or offset.

The word rake is not decoration. It describes both the shape and the reason for it: a row of points that engages tissue the way a garden rake engages soil, taking hold in several places at once instead of one.

That is the argument against a single hook. One hook puts the whole load of a heavy flap through one puncture. Four prongs share it, the tension across the flap stays even, and the flap is far less likely to bunch, to tear at the hold, or to lose its blood supply at one concentrated point.

Key design features of this 40 mm rake

Four features, and two of them are choices you make at the order.

• Four sharp prongs. Enough holds to spread the load across a heavy flap, few enough to place accurately.
• A 40 mm head. The wide end of the Freeman range, carried in our own record.
• In line or offset. In line sits straight across for an even pull. Offset is bent, so the hand stays out of the field and the traction can come from an angle.
• A flat handle. The load sits across the palm rather than in a pinch grip, which matters across the hours a facelift takes.

Freeman rake retractor 40mm sizes

The table is short because only the first two rows are ours.

Our record gives the head width and the prong layout and no overall length. Other catalogs put this pattern at about 18 cm or 7 inches, and that is not repeated here as ours because it has not been measured here. It is the figure that separates this instrument from the small version, so it is worth asking for.

Where a rhytidectomy rake retractor is used

A rhytidectomy rake retractor is reached for wherever a flap has been raised and has to stay raised, and that is not only a facial operation.

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, and the line between them is worth drawing.

How this 4 prong rake retractor compares with the rest of the family

Five of the six rows are instruments we make. The choice between a 4 prong rake retractor and a nine prong one, or a smooth blade, gets made on what the tissue will take.

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 into the field. 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 rather than holding it, and a torn flap is the one thing this pattern exists to avoid.

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 rest against nothing. Check the prongs each time and check them as a set: one point bent even slightly out of line takes the flap at a different depth from its neighbors, which puts the whole load back onto three prongs.

Ordering and wholesale

Adas Instruments makes the sharp rake retractor patterns to order and supplies hospitals, surgical centers and distributors across the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Item code AP-65.101. State whether you want in line or offset prongs. 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 rake retractor used for?

Holding a raised skin flap back so the surgeon can work under it. It is used through a facelift from the moment the flap is lifted until it is laid down, and the same instrument is used on breast reconstruction flaps and on the abdominal wall, because the problem is the same wherever a flap has been raised.

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

Yes. Catalogs write this four pronged pattern as a Freeman rake retractor, a Freeman facelift rake retractor and a Freeman face lift retractor, and mean the same instrument. One warning worth carrying: the Freeman name is also attached to a separate blade style flap retractor, so say prongs when prongs are what you want.

Why four prongs rather than one hook?

Because a single hook puts the whole load through one puncture. Four prongs spread the same load over four, so the tension across the flap is even, the skin does not bunch between holds, and no one point carries enough force to tear or to close off the blood supply beneath it.

In line or offset prongs on a freeman rake retractor?

In line for an even, straight pull on an open flap, which covers most of the work. Offset when the traction has to come from an angle or the hand has to stay clear of the field, typically deep in a corner where a straight head would need tilting and would lose grip doing it.

What is the difference between this and the 40 mm small?

Length, not width. Both are 40 mm across with four sharp prongs. The small version is about 10 cm against about 18 cm here, which is the whole distinction, and it exists so the same wide head can work in a pocket the long instrument cannot enter.

Related products and categories

Buyers who order the freeman rake retractor usually order alongside it the freeman rake retractors 40mm small, the miller rake retractor and the maxwell flap retractor. The whole family sits in hooks and retractors, and this pattern is also listed under breast surgery instruments.