Self-retaining lip retractor for use with the Macintosh laryngoscope.

Dear Sir, In the April 1950 edition of your Journal, Dr. Esplen illustrated a metal anaesthetic screen for use in thoracotomies in the lateral position. I agree that such a screen is essential to maintain a good view of the patient's airway, and more particularly to facilitate bronchoscopy without disturbing the operative field should it become necessary during operation. Such a screen can well be made by the hospital carpenter. The one illustrated (Fig. 1) has been in use for over five hundred cases of thoracotomy or thoracoplasty. It forms a convenient rest for the towels, and the assistant's elbows. The wood is of seven-sixteenth of an inch thickness and the measurements are: height, 18£ inches; width, 26 inches (i.e. wider than the standard operating table), and the arch is 6 inches in depth for stability. The base is 12 inches in depth. Also illustrated (Fig. 2) is a corrugated-tube holder which is cut out of three-ply wood and which slips easily between the base of the screen and the rubber cushions. This simple device takes the weight of the corrugated tubes, and prevents the drag of these tubes being borne by the endotracheal cuff and the patient's trachea.