A retractor is a surgical instrument used to separate and hold tissues/organs exposed by an incision or wound, thereby providing access to the site of investigation/repair. The earliest written record of the retractor’s surgical use is found in a 2800-year-old Indian document. Historians, however, agree much earlier use in ‘surgery’ of equivalent tools developed for butchery of prey species is likely. Over the last 200 years especially, the development of new instruments and refinement of existing designs accelerated, the retractor in this short note illustrating one pathway by which such change was initiated.

Pat Cotter was appointed as Senior Surgical Registrar at Christchurch Hospital in 1951 remaining in that position until October 1952, then moving into private practice operating at Calvary and St George’s hospitals with supplementary surgery at Burwood Hospital. Prior to 1960, surgeons working in private practice carried their own surgical instrument bag to each operation, with up to 40 bags being in a hospital at one time. The maintenance and sharpening of those instruments was the responsibility of each surgeon and to that end, Because he needed to regularly have his instruments repaired/sharpened, Pat built up a very special relationship with Neville Turner one of the engineers working in the Medical Physics Department at Christchurch Hospital. Also then encouraging other surgeons to use Neville’s skills, this leading to Neville establishing a successful Surgical Engineering business. As noted by Claire Le Couteur in Pat’s biography, “Pat often invited instrument maker Neville Turner to watch operations to understand better what modifications Pat was suggesting to existing instruments or to design new instruments to meet Pat’s requirements.”

The Cotter retractor is one of a number of novel solutions to surgical problems that Pat and Neville in partnership developed. Louise Beswick (Theatre Nurse, Southern Cross) describes how that instrument is used, “this retractor is a general surgical instrument commonly included in abdominal and general surgery instrument sets. Its gentle curved shape makes it a versatile retractor that is most commonly used during abdominal procedures where deep tissue retraction and improved access to the operative field are required. Examples include major bowel surgery and open cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal).”