Penn Breast Dissector Wide Blade Straight 12¾″

What the Penn breast dissector is

The Penn breast dissector is a hand instrument used to open and mobilize a pocket in breast surgery. Surgeons also call it a Penn dissector, a wide blade breast dissector or a breast surgery dissector. It is made by Adas Instruments in high quality medical grade stainless steel, and it is reusable and fully autoclavable.

It is 32 cm long with a straight wide blade, and the straightness is what separates it: a straight blade sweeps a flat plane across the chest wall without the tip wandering off it.

The work a breast dissector does is always the same in principle. A pocket has to be opened along a plane that already exists, without cutting through it and without tearing the tissue on either side. A blunt end pushed along that plane separates it and leaves the small vessels intact, which is why the field stays dry. The width of the blade and the stiffness of the shaft decide which pattern a surgeon picks up.

Key design features of the Penn breast dissector

• Overall length 32 cm, about 12.75 in
• Straight wide blade that holds a flat plane across the chest wall
• Blunt end for soft tissue elevation over the breast and chest wall
• Suits a straight sweep rather than a curved pocket edge
• Flat handle that shows the blade angle by feel
• High quality medical grade stainless steel, reusable and autoclavable

The handle is flat and knurled rather than round. A flat handle tells you which way the blade is facing when the working end is deep in a pocket and out of sight, and the knurling holds when a glove is wet. The shaft runs into the blade with no step, so there is no shoulder to catch on the edge of an incision and nothing for protein to sit in after a case.

Penn dissector sizes and build options

Every size below is a size we actually ship. Imperial figures are given beside the metric because United States buyers search in inches.

Nothing is listed above that we do not hold. If a build you need is not in the table, ask, because a pattern like this is often made to order for an OEM run and a change of length or blade width is a tooling change rather than a new instrument.

Uses of the Penn breast dissector by specialty

The Penn breast dissector appears on the same trays across these specialties because the job is the same one each time, opening a plane bluntly and holding the pocket where the surgeon meant it to stop.

The specialty name and the procedure name are both worth knowing when you order, because catalogues file this pattern under whichever of the two the buyer used. An operating room manager searches by procedure and a purchasing office searches by specialty, and they are looking for the same instrument.

Tissue planes the Penn breast dissector works in

A breast dissector handles no suture and no needle. What decides the choice of pattern is the plane it has to open, how far the working end has to travel to reach it, and how much room there is to move once it is there.

Force is the part nobody writes down. A subglandular plane in a young patient opens with almost nothing, while a capsule in a revision case needs a firm push and a stiff shaft behind it. Match the blade to the plane and the instrument does the work instead of your wrist.

How the Penn breast dissector compares with other patterns

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

Surgeons who use this pattern usually also hold the Silverstein breast dissector, the MacCollum Dingman submammary dissector and the Wieslander breast dissector. The closest relative in the range is the Silverstein breast dissector.

If you are building a breast tray from scratch, the usual answer is two dissectors rather than one. Something long for the far edge of the pocket and something shorter with more feel at the tip covers almost every case.

Materials and finish

The instrument is made in high quality medical grade stainless steel. The steel itself is made to a German specification. The blade is flat ground and satin finished, which cuts glare under the lights in an operating room and keeps the working end readable against wet tissue. There is no coating to chip and nothing on the shaft to trap protein.

Stainless steel is chosen here for a reason that has nothing to do with appearance. A long shafted dissector is pushed hard at full extension, and a shaft that is too soft will take a set and stay bent, which throws the blade out of the plane on the next pass. A shaft that is too hard will crack at the neck instead. The grade used sits between the two.

Penn breast dissector care and sterilization

Rinse the instrument in cool water straight after use so blood does not dry on the blade. Clean it with a soft brush and a neutral pH enzymatic detergent, rinse in deionized water, then dry it completely. Steam autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius. Lay it flat in the tray with nothing resting across the shaft, because a long shaft that has been loaded sideways in a crowded tray is the one that comes back bent.

Look at the working end against the light before every case. A blunt end should be smooth with no flat spot and no nick, and the shaft should still be straight when you sight down it. A dissector with a nick on the end is what tears a pocket two cases later, and it costs nothing to check.

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 AN-11.13-1 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 and the marking you need and the quotation comes back with the lead time for that run rather than a stock figure.

Production is controlled under an ISO 13485 quality management system. The instrument is CE marked.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Penn breast dissector used for?

It lifts and separates soft tissue over the breast and chest wall in augmentation and reconstruction. The straight wide blade is what it is chosen for, because a straight blade keeps a flat plane flat.

Why does a straight blade matter on a Penn dissector?

A curved blade follows the curve of a pocket edge. A straight one holds a line across the chest wall, and on a flat plane that is the difference between a clean sweep and a tip that wanders out of the plane.

How long is the Penn breast dissector?

32 cm overall, about 12.75 in.

Is a wide blade breast dissector harder to control?

In a tight pocket, yes, which is why the narrower patterns exist. In an open plane the Penn width works for you, because it spreads the load instead of concentrating it at a point.

How do you clean and sterilize a Penn dissector?

Rinse in cool water straight after use, clean with a soft brush and a neutral pH enzymatic detergent, rinse in deionized water, dry fully, then steam autoclave at 134 degrees Celsius.

Related products and categories

Surgeons who work with the Penn breast dissector usually compare it against the Silverstein breast dissector, the MacCollum Dingman submammary dissector and the Wieslander breast dissector. The whole family sits in dissectors and elevators, and this pattern is also listed under breast surgery instruments.