| Description Of Item | Metal forceps with a bend to clear the field of vision, differing from the common Magill’s forceps by having offset teeth at the tips rather than flat oval rings. Dr Richard Burtles (1925-2020) was a paediatric anaesthetist who worked at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. He designed these forceps to aid nasotracheal intubation in children. Whereas the Magill forceps gripped the tracheal tube from side to side, the teeth of Burtles forceps gripped the tube in front and behind. The teeth were curved and so placed that closing the handles bent the tracheal tube backwards into line with the trachea and did not flatten or kink the tube. These forceps were available from Northern Hospital Supplies Spylaw Street, Colinton, Edinburgh. However, this specimen was made for Dr Gordon Drummond in the workshop, Department of Anaesthetics, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. A semicircular channel in the blade provided a grip and guide for a tube, and prevented grasping the posterior wall of the pharynx at the same time. This item was used by Dr Drummond at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh to aid the passage of a nasogastric tube when an endotracheal tube was already in place. |