Volkman Retractor, 1 to 4 Prongs, Sharp or Blunt

What the volkman retractor is

The volkman retractor is a hand held instrument that holds superficial skin and soft tissue back on a short row of curved prongs. Google itself introduces it as a rake retractor, and that is the right picture: a small rake, held by hand, taking hold in several places at once.

One thing about the name before anything else. The instrument is named after Richard von Volkmann, a nineteenth century surgeon, and the accepted surgical spelling has two n letters, Volkmann. Catalogs including ours have long written it with one. Both spellings are in use, people search for both roughly equally, and both bring you here.

What actually matters at the order is not the spelling but two choices, and our own record carries both of them: how many prongs, and whether those prongs are sharp or blunt.

Key design features of this volkmann retractor

Four features, and the first two are the ordering decision.

• One to four prongs. Carried in our own record as a choice, not a range.
• Sharp or blunt. Also carried in our own record. This is the choice that decides what the instrument may safely touch.
• Curved prongs. The curve is what stops a prong sliding out as the pull increases.
• A loop or ring handle. An assistant can hold a steady pull for a long time without a pinch grip.

Volkman retractor sizes and prong options

Both rows of choice below are our own product record, which is more than most pages in this category can say.

Our record carries the prong count and the tip type and gives no overall length. Other catalogs publish about 11.8 cm for hand patterns and about 21.5 to 22 cm for standard adult ones, and neither is repeated here as ours. Ask and it will be measured.

Where a volkmann rake retractor is used

A volkmann rake retractor is a general instrument, and the list below is wider than the category this page sits in.

Sharp prongs or blunt, and what each one holds

This is the whole decision, so it gets a table rather than a sentence.

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

Five of the six rows are instruments we make. A 4 prong volkmann retractor is the general purpose member of a family that runs from one prong up to nine.

Materials and finish

Made from high quality medical grade stainless steel, satin finished so the operating light does not reflect off the shaft into the field. The steel itself is made to a German specification. On the blunt version the prong tips are rounded and polished one at a time, which is slower than grinding a point and is the only thing that makes a blunt prong genuinely blunt rather than merely unfinished.

Care and sterilization

Clean with a soft brush under running water, working between the prongs and into the curve where tissue lodges, then rinse in deionized water and dry fully before autoclaving. Store on a rack or under a tip guard. Check the prongs as a set against a straight edge, and check the sharp and blunt instruments are not mixed in the tray: they look alike at a glance and they are not interchangeable.

Ordering and wholesale

Adas Instruments makes the blunt volkmann retractor and sharp patterns to order and supplies hospitals, surgical centers and distributors across the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Item code AP-40.80. State the prong count and whether you want sharp or blunt tips. 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 volkman retractor used for?

Holding superficial skin and soft tissue back so a shallow wound stays open and visible. It is a general instrument rather than a specialty one, which is why it turns up in general surgery, orthopedics, hand surgery, plastics and dermatology, and why most sets carry more than one.

Is it spelled volkman or volkmann?

Volkmann, with two n letters, is the accepted surgical spelling, after Richard von Volkmann. A great many catalogs write it with one, ours among them, and people search for both forms in almost equal numbers. They are the same instrument and both spellings lead here.

Sharp prongs or blunt prongs on a volkman retractor?

Sharp for skin, fascia and dense scar tissue, where the point has to bite or the instrument slides out under load. Blunt for muscle and for anything lying near a nerve or a vessel, where the only job is to hold and a point would add an injury. If you are not sure which you need, say what tissue you are holding and we will say which.

How many prongs should a volkman retractor have?

One for an isolated structure such as a tendon. Two for very small incisions in a finger, a hand or a foot. Three for small soft tissue wounds. Four is the general purpose pattern and the one most sets carry. Our own record covers all four.

Is a volkmann retractor the same as a rake retractor?

It is one kind of rake retractor. Rake retractor is the general name for any retractor whose working end is a row of prongs, and the Volkmann is the general purpose version of that idea. Miller, Senn and Freeman are other named members of the same family, each cut for a different job.

Related products and categories

Buyers who order the volkman retractor usually order alongside it the deaver retractor, the ribbon retractor malleable and the yancoskie abdominoplasty retractor. The whole family sits in hooks and retractors, and the finer patterns are also listed under micro surgery instruments.