Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Comprehensive Endovascular and Open Surgical Management of Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformations
Published on: October 20, 2017
Microvascular retractor: a new concept of retracting and repositioning cerebral blood vessels
A Samy Youssef1, Harry R van Loveren
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33606, USA. ayoussef@hsc.usf.edu
Objective:
In this technical note, we report our results with a newly designed retractor blade that can be directly applied for the retraction and repositioning of cerebral blood vessels and delicate neural structures.
Methods:
This new malleable retractor with a semicircular tip was designed to fit in the flexible arms of a self-retaining retractor system. After prototype evaluation and optimization in laboratory studies, we used the new retractor in 15 patients during surgical procedures that included retraction of the internal carotid artery during aneurysm clipping, expansion of the surgical window, and transposition of cranial nerves.
Results:
No intraoperative injuries occurred to neurovascular structures. The retractor blade remained stable on pulsating vessels during the procedure and largely preserved the vessel diameter.
Conclusion:
The new retractor incorporates the existing advantages offered by flexible self-retaining retractor blades with those features that adapt to blood vessel retraction. Rather than concentrating force at one point as typical retractors do, the semicircular tip distributes the retraction force over multiple points along its circumference.
