Uterine Evacuation Instrument Set, 16 Pieces

What a uterine evacuation instrument set is

A uterine evacuation instrument set is the steel tray a gynecologist uses to open the cervix and remove what is left inside the uterus. Google’s own summary names the usual reasons: an incomplete miscarriage, retained products of conception and heavy abnormal bleeding. The operation is short, but it is done by feel, so the tray has to be complete before the patient is on the table.

There are two ways to empty a uterus. One is vacuum aspiration, with a syringe or a pump and soft plastic cannulas. The other is mechanical: dilate, then clear the cavity with a curette. This set is the mechanical one. It holds no aspirator, no plastic cannula and no tubing, and we say so here rather than let a buyer find out when the box is opened.

Two more things are absent that Google lists on some trays: a uterine sound and ovum forceps. Both are in our dilatation and curettage set. If your department sounds the uterus on every case, which most do, order that tray or add a sound to this one.

What this tray does carry is weighted toward clearing rather than sampling. The two curettes are the largest we make for this work, 14 mm and 15 mm, and both are blunt. That is uterine evacuation and curettage done with the least risk to the wall, which is the point when the uterus is soft after a pregnancy.

Key design features

A Hegar set of eight in one piece count

The dilators come as a Hegar set of 8, 3/4 mm to 17/18 mm, double ended, so the canal can be opened one millimeter at a time. Our count calls the set one piece of the 16. Buyers comparing Hegar dilator sets by piece count should know that, because it makes this tray look smaller than it is.

Two big blunt curettes

Both curettes are Sims pattern, rigid, 26 cm long, Fig.6 at 14 mm and Fig.7 at 15 mm. A wide blunt loop clears a soft cavity in fewer strokes and is far less likely to go through the wall than a small sharp one. A sharp curette for sampling is not in this set.

Three tenacula, not one

Three Schroeder tenaculum forceps, 24 cm, straight with 2×2 teeth. A soft cervix after a pregnancy can tear under one tenaculum, and a second placed beside it spreads the pull. The third is the spare that saves sending a nurse to the store room.

A field that holds itself

The Auvard speculum is weighted and sits on its own. Four Foerster-Ballenger sponge forceps, 25 cm, straight and serrated, handle swabs, and four Backhaus towel forceps, 13 cm, keep the drapes in place. The Mayo operating and gynecology scissors, 17 cm, curved, finish the tray.

What is in the tray, piece by piece

Read off our own pattern record for item AD-95620. Nothing on it has been rounded or borrowed from a rival listing.

Where the set is used

Every use below is mechanical evacuation, with the cervix dilated and the cavity cleared by curette.

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

A uterus after a pregnancy is soft and easier to perforate, so the limits below are the reason the tray is built the way it is.

How it compares with the other gynecology sets

The question we hear most is whether to buy this tray or the dilatation and curettage set. This table is the answer.

Materials and finish

Every piece in this uterine evacuation 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, because it would not tell you what matters here: whether a 26 cm curette shaft stays dead straight after years of autoclaving. A curette that has bent even slightly no longer travels where the surgeon is aiming it.

The curette loops are rolled at the edge, not ground thin, which is what makes them blunt rather than simply dull. The Hegar dilators are polished along their whole length so they slide without drag. The tenaculum teeth are set so the two pairs meet point to point, which is what stops them working loose under traction.

Caring for it

Rinse the curettes and the tenacula as soon as the case ends. Tissue that dries inside a curette loop or between tenaculum teeth is the hardest thing on the tray to clean later. Open every ratchet before the autoclave.

Put the Hegar dilators back in their order, smallest first. Check the tenaculum teeth meet when the ratchet is closed on the first click. A pair that meets only on the third click has sprung and will slip on a soft cervix.

Ordering and wholesale

Every piece of the uterine evacuation 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 instruments are used for evacuation of the uterus?

For mechanical evacuation: a speculum, a tenaculum, Hegar dilators and blunt uterine curettes, with sponge and towel forceps around them. This tray carries all of those. Vacuum evacuation uses a syringe or pump and plastic cannulas instead, which this set does not include.

What are the different types of instruments used in evacuation?

There are two families. Steel instruments dilate and curette by hand, and aspiration equipment empties the cavity by suction. Our uterine evacuation instrument set is entirely the first family.

What are the instruments used for dilatation and evacuation?

The same core as this tray: dilators to open the cervix, tenacula to steady it, and curettes to clear the cavity. Larger trays add ovum forceps and a uterine sound, which you will find in our dilatation and curettage set.

Why are both curettes blunt?

Because the tray is for clearing a soft uterus, not for sampling. A wide blunt loop takes tissue away in fewer strokes and is much less likely to pass through the wall. A sharp curette is the right tool for a histology sample, and it is in our D and C tray.

Is a uterine sound included?

No. This set has no uterine sound and no ovum forceps. Our dilatation and curettage set has both, or a sound can be added to this tray when you order.

Related products and categories

Where the cervix needs sampling first, the cervical biopsy instrument set is the small clinic tray, and the cervix cauterization instrument set holds the steel support for a cautery unit. The hymenectomy instrument set is our general minor gynecology tray.

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.