site logo

The Light Reflex On The Forceps

Categories: MECHANICAL PROBLEMS OF BRONCHOSCOPIC FOREIGN BODY EXTRACTION
Sources: A Manual Of Peroral Endoscopy And Laryngeal Surgery

It is often difficult for the

beginner to judge to what depth an instrument has been inserted

through the tube. On slowly inserting a forceps through the tube, as

the blades come opposite the distal light they will appear brightly

illuminated; or should the blades lie close to the light bulb, a

shadow will be seen in the previously brilliantly lighted opposite

wall. It is then known that the forceps are at the tube mou
h, and the

endoscopist has but to gauge the distance from this to the foreign

body. This assistance in gauging depth is one of the great advances in

foreign body bronchoscopy obtained by the development of distal

illumination.



Hooks are useful in the solution of various mechanical problems, and

may be turned by the operator himself into various shapes by heating

small probe-pointed steel rods in a spirit lamp, the proximal end

being turned over at a right angle for a controlling handle. Hooks

with a greater curve than a right angle are prone to engage in small

orifices from which they are with difficulty removed. A right angle

curve of the distal end is usually sufficient, and a corkscrew spiral

is often advantageous, rendering removal easy by a reversal of the

twisting motion (Bib. 11, p. 311).



More

;