Cotton Dental Rolls for Effective and Cost-Efficient Hemostasis

Continuous visualization of the surgical field is a key component of good surgical technique. Removing blood from the field ensures that the surgical dissection remains in the appropriate plane and decreases the risk for inadvertent injury to vital structures. Maintaining a clear surgical field also allows for identification of individual bleeding vessels so that they may be cauterized precisely or ligated. This decreases the need for excessive thermal damage. Standard 6’’ cotton-tipped swabs may be used to more precisely absorb blood from the surgical field, but in all but the most limited of procedures, these small swabs quickly become saturated and ineffective. Two alternatives for precise hemostasis include cotton dental rolls and large cotton rectal swabs (Figure 1). The dental roll can be used by clamping it with a hemostat or placing it at the end of a cotton swab and can even be used to retract tissues within the surgical field (Figures 2 and 3).