Rhoton Instruments

What This Collection Covers

• Round dissectors — Nos. 1, 2 and 3, graduated tip sizes, 190mm
• Elevators — No. 4 angled and No. 5 curved
• Dissectors — No. 6 small, No. 7 medium, No. 8 large
• Hooks — No. 9 semi-sharp 90°, No. 10 blunt 90°, No. 11 semi-sharp 45°
• Needle — No. 12 straight
• Curettes — No. 13 small oval, No. 14 large oval
• Teardrop dissectors — No. 15 straight, Nos. 16 and 17 at 90°, Nos. 18 and 19 at 40°
• Complete sets — 19 instruments cased, in stainless steel or titanium
• Cases and trays — case for 19 instruments (10 x 10 3/4") and a storage and cleaning tray for 20 instruments (250 x 210 x 255mm)
• Rhoton-Merz suction tubes — 15cm, 17cm and 20cm lengths in 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 Fr
• Titanium singles — right-angle hooks (blunt and semi-sharp), needle dissector, micro needle and spatula dissector
• Combination patterns — Rhoton-Yasargil round rasp and short scoop

Why the Set Is Numbered

The numbering is not packaging. It is a working vocabulary. In a microsurgical field viewed down a scope, the surgeon is not looking at the tray and cannot describe a tip shape mid-dissection — so the instrument is called for by number, and the number is stamped where the scrub nurse can read it.

The sequence is also ordered by function rather than arbitrarily. Nos. 1–3 are round dissectors in ascending tip size for blunt separation of arachnoid planes. Nos. 4–5 are elevators for lifting tissue off bone or dura. Nos. 6–8 are progressively larger flat dissectors. Nos. 9–11 are hooks, where the angle and the sharpness are the variables. No. 12 is a needle. Nos. 13–14 are oval curettes. Nos. 15–19 are teardrop dissectors, graduated by angle rather than size.

Learn the numbers once and the set works the same way in any theatre in the world. That transferability is why it became a standard rather than one surgeon's preference.

How to Choose

Stainless steel or titanium. Titanium is substantially lighter, which matters over a long microsurgical case where the instrument is held in a pen grip for hours, and it is non-magnetic. Stainless is stiffer and costs less. Both sets here carry the same nineteen instruments.

Individual instruments or the full set. If you are replacing a damaged instrument, order the number. If you are equipping a theatre for skull-base or vascular work, the cased set is the normal purchase because the numbering only pays off when the whole sequence is present.

Blunt or semi-sharp hooks. No. 10 is blunt and safe against vessels and nerves. Nos. 9 and 11 are semi-sharp, which will hold and lift tissue a blunt hook slides off — and will also perforate what you do not want perforated. The 45° and 90° angles determine what you can reach around.

Suction tube gauge. French gauge divides by three to give the outer diameter in millimetres: 3 Fr is 1mm, 12 Fr is 4mm. Small gauges are for precise, low-volume suction in a deep corridor without pulling on surrounding structures; larger gauges clear blood faster. Length should match the depth of the approach.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Rhoton?
Albert L. Rhoton Jr. was an American neurosurgeon whose microsurgical anatomy laboratory produced much of the reference material modern skull-base surgery is taught from. The numbered dissecting set carrying his name was designed around that approach to the operative corridor.

What do the numbers on Rhoton instruments mean?
Each number identifies one specific tip shape and size within the 19-instrument sequence, so an instrument can be called for by number rather than described. The numbering runs from round dissectors at Nos. 1–3 through to angled teardrop dissectors at Nos. 15–19.

Are the instruments all the same length?
The numbered set is a uniform 190mm working length. The separately listed titanium singles and the Merz suction tubes come in other lengths — the suction tubes in 15cm, 17cm and 20cm.

What does Fr mean on the suction tubes?
French gauge, a measure of outer diameter. Divide by three for millimetres: 3 Fr is 1mm across, 12 Fr is 4mm. It is the standard sizing for suction and catheter tubing.

Can I order a single number from the set?
Yes — every numbered instrument is listed individually. Send us the numbers you need and our team will quote them line by line, with bulk pricing for distributors and hospital procurement.

Related categories: Yasargil micro instruments, dissectors, neurosurgical instruments, surgical hooks, surgical curettes and suction tubes.