Langenbeck Retractor

 Primary use

To retract soft tissues and other structures out of surgical field to help the surgeon in visualisation

To widen the wound edges

Secondary use

Used in deep dissection below skin as in open cholecystectomy or to open muscles as in open appendicectomy.

Identification

At distal end tip of L shaped extension, downward curve is there to prevent surrounding structures from retraction trauma. ( Blunt and atraumatic tip)

History

It was named after Conrad Johann Martin Langenbeck 1776-1851, a professor of surgery and anatomy in Gottingen. He did first vaginal hysterectomy in 1813, without anaesthesia or an assistant.