FROM THE HISTORY OF SURGICAL-INSTRUMENTS - THE DRESSING FORCEPS

The dressing forceps (''Kornzange'') is one of the very few surgical i nstruments that have extensively preserved its form, its function and even its name throughout the centuries. In the Germany of the 16th cen tury, the dressing forceps was mentioned as a widely used instrument a moung the barber-surgeons (Stromayr 1559, Ryff 1559). At that time, it mostly found use as a foreign bed removing forceps. The dressing forc eps can be traced back until today in German or English surgery instru ment-books in nearly unchanged shape.