Pitanguy Small Flap Demarcator | Facial Flap Marking Forceps

What a Pitanguy small flap demarcator is

Catalogues list this as a flap demarcator forceps, and some of them spell the word dermarcator. It is the same instrument. Ivo Pitanguy worked out the pattern and his name has stayed on it, and the small version is the facial one.

It is an instrument that finds the measurement, because the overlap the jaws take up is itself the answer to how much skin is spare. There are two jaws and they do different jobs. The lower one takes hold of the flap and stretches it, so the skin is at the tension it will be closed at. The upper one is inked, and when the jaws come together the ink goes onto the skin along the exact line that has to be cut. One closure does the measuring and the marking at the same time.

One thing about this product needs saying rather than hiding. It does not have an item code yet. Every other instrument in this category carries one and this one does not, which is our record keeping rather than anything about the instrument, and it is being fixed. Until it is, order it by the product name on this page and by its page address, and the order will reach the right bench.

On a tray list it is a facial flap demarcator, and in a catalogue a small flap marking forceps. Both are this instrument. The large Pitanguy is the torso version and nothing crosses between them usefully.

Key design features

The lower jaw grips and stretches

This is the half people overlook. The lower jaw is not just a backing plate; it takes the flap and puts it under tension. Skin measured slack and closed under tension gives two different answers, and the one that matters is the second.

The upper jaw is inked

Surgical ink goes on the upper jaw and transfers when the jaws close. That gives a continuous line rather than a row of dots, which on a long facial flap is easier to cut to and easier to see against pale skin. It is a reusable steel instrument that applies ink, not a disposable that contains it.

Fine pointed tines

The holding face is a set of fine points rather than a flat surface or a single tooth. Facial flaps are thin, and fine points spread across several contacts hold skin that a single tooth would tear and a flat plate would let slide.

No ratchet, and that is deliberate

Nothing locks. The grip is held while it is needed and released the instant it is not, which on a thin facial flap is a feature rather than a shortcoming. If you want the instrument to hold the flap by itself, that is one of the D’Assumpcao patterns.

Which demarcator to order

Pitanguy made the pattern in two sizes and we make both. The choice is the field.

Where it is used

Facial work, on flaps thin enough that the grip matters as much as the mark.

What it marks, and what it must not do

The inked jaw is the part that gets misused, and it is row three.

How it compares with the rest of the family

Six clamping markers here. Three are facial and three are abdominal, and nothing crosses the line usefully.

Materials and finish

Every Pitanguy small flap demarcator 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. The number on a certificate tells a surgeon nothing about whether the two jaws still meet squarely after two hundred autoclave cycles, and the answer to that is in the making rather than in the alloy.

The two jaws are aligned after the joint is set, which is the whole of the making on this instrument. A demarcator whose jaws meet at one end prints a line at that end and smears at the other, and on a facial flap the smear is where the scar will be.

The tines are finished last and left fine. A fine point that has been rounded off in finishing grips like a flat plate, which is to say it does not grip at all on thin skin.

Caring for it

Wash the ink off both jaws immediately after use, under running water, before it dries. Dried ink in the upper jaw is why a demarcator starts printing a broken line, and dried ink between the tines of the lower jaw is why it starts letting a flap slide.

Autoclave with the rest of the tray. There is no ratchet to release and nothing to lubricate. Store it with the jaws open and not pressed against anything, because fine points loaded against another instrument for a year are fine points no longer.

Check the jaws against a light every few months. Hold them closed and look along the line where they meet; a gap at one end is an instrument that will print at that end and smear at the other, and it should come back to us rather than go onto the next list.

Ordering and wholesale

The Pitanguy small flap demarcator 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. 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 is a Pitanguy small flap demarcator used for?

Marking the line of excision on a facial skin flap. The lower jaw grips and stretches the flap to closing tension, and the inked upper jaw prints a continuous line onto the skin when the jaws close. It is used in facelift, brow lift and facial reconstruction work.

Why is it called a flap demarcator rather than a marker?

Because it demarcates, which is to say it finds the boundary rather than just drawing on one. A marker puts a line where you tell it to. This instrument takes the flap, puts it under tension, and the line it prints is wherever the spare skin actually ends.

What is the difference between the small and large Pitanguy flap demarcator?

Length and bite. The small pattern is 156 mm with fine points, for facial flaps. The large pattern is 311 mm with a wider jaw, for abdominoplasty and torso work. Ours are 22 dollars and 48 dollars.

Does the Pitanguy demarcator have a ratchet?

Not this one. The grip is held while it is needed and released immediately, which suits thin facial skin. If you want the instrument to lock on the flap and hold it hands free, the Kurtay D’Assumpcao pattern has an integrated ratchet.

Does the Pitanguy flap demarcator use surgical ink?

Yes. The upper jaw is inked and transfers the line when the jaws close. The instrument itself is reusable steel and is autoclaved with the rest of the tray; the ink is renewed between closures.

Related products and categories

The abdominal version of the same pattern is the Pitanguy large flap demarcator 311mm at 48 dollars. If you want the instrument to hold the flap by itself, the Kurtay D’Assumpcao facelift marker has an integrated ratchet, and the D’Assumpcao face lift marker can be ordered either way.

The rest of the family sits under marking and measuring instruments, and the wider set for this operation is under facelift and neck lift instruments.