Blair Cleft Palate Elevator, 19 cm – Right Angle, 5 mm Blade

The right angle exists because the hard palate is a ceiling. The blade has to lie flat against a surface directly above the surgeon’s hand, and only a blade set at ninety degrees to the shaft can do that while the handle stays down and clear of the mouth. Any shallower angle lifts the working edge off the bone at the front of the palate, exactly where the mucoperiosteal flap is most firmly attached and most likely to tear.

Raising that flap intact is the point of the whole manoeuvre. In cleft palate repair the mucoperiosteum is lifted as a single continuous sheet and moved medially to close the gap, so a tear in it is not a cosmetic issue but a hole in the repair. The 5.0 mm blade is wide enough to lift a broad front without concentrating force at a point, and the ribbed handle gives grip through gloves wet with saline and blood, where a smooth handle turns in the hand at the moment force is applied.

Specifications