300px, Jennings gag
In the context of
surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...
or
dental surgery
Dental surgery is any of a number of medical procedures that involve artificially modifying dentition; in other words, surgery of the teeth, gums and jaw bones.
Types
Some of the more common are:
* Endodontic (surgery involving the pulp or root ...
, a gag is a device used to hold the
patient
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health c ...
's
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
open when working in the
oral cavity
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
, or to force the mouth open when it cannot open naturally because of forward
dislocation
In materials science, a dislocation or Taylor's dislocation is a linear crystallographic defect or irregularity within a crystal structure that contains an abrupt change in the arrangement of atoms. The movement of dislocations allow atoms to sl ...
of the jaw joint's intraarticular cartilage pad. Applications for medical gags include
oral surgery and
airway management
Airway management includes a set of maneuvers and medical procedures performed to prevent and relieve airway obstruction. This ensures an open pathway for gas exchange between a patient's lungs and the atmosphere. This is accomplished by either cl ...
. Gag designs, like other medical instrument designs, are often named after their inventors. Common examples of medical gags include the Jennings, Whitehead, and Hallam gags.
Types
*Whitehead gag: invented in 1877 by
Walter Whitehead
Walter Whitehead, , (12 October 1840 – 19 August 1913) was a surgeon at various hospitals in Manchester, England, and held the chair of Clinical Surgery at the Victoria University of Manchester. He was president of the British Medic ...
(1840-1913), a surgeon in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
consists of two hinged metal frames that wrap around the front of the patient's head and which have sections bent to fit between the front teeth. When spread apart, the frames separate the jaws, holding the mouth open. The desired degree of separation is set and maintained by a
ratchet
Ratchet may refer to:
Devices
* Ratchet (device), a mechanical device that allows movement in only one direction
* Ratchet, metonomic name for a socket wrench incorporating a ratcheting device
* Ratchet (instrument), a music instrument and a ...
mechanism on each side of the frame.
*Jennings gag: they are very similar, but there is a ratchet on only one side.
Non-medical uses
These type of gags are also used in sexual
fetish or
bondage play. See
Gag (BDSM)#Medical.
See also
*
Medical device
A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...
*
Mouth prop
A mouth prop (also bite block) is a wedge-shaped implement used in dentistry for dentists working with children and other patients who have difficulty keeping their mouths open wide and steady during a procedure, or during procedures where the pat ...
*
Instruments used in general surgery
There are many different surgical specialties, some of which require very specific kinds of surgical instruments to perform.
General surgery is a specialty focused on the abdominal contents, as well as the thyroid gland, and diseases involvin ...
References
External links
Mouth gags index pagefrom the ''Virtual Museum of Equipment for Airway Management'' at the Austrian Difficult Airway/Intubation Registry
{{Authority control
Surgical instruments
