Needle Tips
Contributed by Mika Sinanan, MD, at the University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, WA

Taper | Cutting | Diamond Point | Blunt | Lancet


taperedTapered: these tips are used for soft tissue. Characteristically they are rounded and produce the smallest hole, minimizing trauma.

Cutting: these tips are used for skin repair. They are triangular-shaped and are useful in puncturing tough tissue but produce a larger hole than tapered tips. Cutting tips are not used intra-abdominally due to the risk of blood vessel or delicate tissue damage.

regular cutRegular cutting tips: the cutting edge is on the inner curvature.

Reverse cutting tips: the cutting edge is on the outer curvature.

diamondDiamond Point: useful for attaching suture material and/or synthetic grafts to tendons or cartilage.

Blunt point: these needle tips have no cutting edge and are used for friable tissues, such as the liver, where cutting and piercing would be detrimental.

spatulaLancet, or Spatula: primarily for Opthalmic surgery, for the repair of muscle, retina, and delicate eyelid tissue. Cutting edge may be on the inner or outer curvature.


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