Hohmann Retractor

What This Collection Covers

• Mini Hohmann, 6 1/2" — 6mm and 8mm blades, for hand, foot and small-bone surgery
• 8 1/2" / 8mm and 22cm / 8mm — the narrow lever, for small bones and confined exposure
• 22mm and 25cm x 22mm — the general orthopaedic size (also listed as style 33809)
• 11" and 28cm x 24mm — longer reach for deeper hip and knee exposure
• 9 1/2" and 25cm x 43mm — broad blade, for holding a large muscle mass aside
• 16" with 120° angle, 22mm blade — the longest reach here, angled for deep acetabular and hip exposure

Why It Levers Against Bone

An ordinary retractor blade pulls on soft tissue and the tissue takes the load. There is a limit to that: push harder and you crush muscle, stretch nerve, or tear the tissue you are holding.

The Hohmann's toe changes where the load goes. Hooked over the bone edge, the blade pivots on the bone cortex, and the force needed to hold a femur or a quadriceps mass aside is carried by the skeleton instead. The soft tissue is displaced rather than loaded. This is also why seating matters: a toe that is not properly over the bone edge will skid off under load, which is both a lost exposure and a real risk to whatever is behind it.

How to Choose

Blade width. The toe has to span enough of the bone edge to seat securely, so width is matched to the bone, not to the surgeon. 6–8mm for small bones and narrow corridors; 22–24mm for the femur, tibia and general joint work; 43mm where a broad muscle mass has to be held clear in one move.

Length. 6 1/2" for hand and foot; 22cm for shallow or distal exposure; 25cm covers most hip and knee work; 28cm and 16" for deep exposure where the handle must stay well clear of the field.

How many. Bone levers are almost never used singly — joint exposure typically needs two or three placed around the joint. Most theatres stock several of the size they use most rather than one of each.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Hohmann retractor used for?
Bone and soft-tissue retraction in orthopaedic surgery — hip and knee arthroplasty, fracture fixation, and trauma exposure. The toe hooks over the bone edge so the instrument levers against bone.

Is a Hohmann retractor the same as a bone lever?
Yes — the two names describe the same instrument, and both appear in the titles here. "Bone lever" describes how it works; "Hohmann" names the pattern.

What does the blade width refer to?
The width of the working blade and its toe. It should be matched to the bone edge you are seating it over — too narrow and it may not seat securely, too wide and it will not fit the exposure.

How many do I need?
Joint exposure normally uses two or three at once, positioned around the joint. Stocking multiples of one size is more useful than one of each size.

Do you supply these individually or as sets?
Individually — every instrument here can be ordered on its own. Send us your list for a full orthopaedic set and our team will quote it line by line, with bulk pricing for distributors and hospital procurement.

Related categories: surgical retractors, Langenbeck retractors, orthopaedic instruments, elevators, osteotomes and gouges.