Instrument Covers & Racks: Protecting Delicate Instruments
Medical and surgical instruments are delicate pieces of equipment that need protection during the sterilization process or while being handled. Items like forceps and retractors, or similar medical equipment with sharp tips, are finely balanced equipment. Maintaining the balance depends on protecting the equipment from wear and tear as much as possible while it is being handled or cleaned. The instrument guards and surgical instrument racks are essential accessories for avoiding accidental instrument damage to promote proper functioning when in use, for preventing user injuries and for ensuring optimal cleaning.

Instrument covers serve several purposes. One is cover the tips to maintain tip sharpness and quality while instruments are sanitized. Another purpose is to prevent the medical professionals handling the equipment from inadvertently harming themselves through contact with sharp points and edges. A third purpose is ensure the entire piece of equipment is sterilized. The slip-on instrument guards are connected with a bridge so when they are slipped onto the tips, the instruments jaws, finger holes and box hinge are kept open. This helps ensure that bacteria has no place to hide. The slip-on tips can also be used when storing equipment.

There are various types of instrument covers. Tip guards are available in a variety of shapes and sizes from narrow and tapered to broad and flat to accommodate the many different types of instruments used, like forceps and scissors. Color coding indicates the tip size. The tips are steam and gas permeable and are sold by color or as an assortment.

Once the instrument covers are in place, stainless steel surgical instrument racks keep bundled equipment safely stored or enable easy sterilization of multiple forceps or other finger ring medical equipment. The stainless steel surgical instrument racks are available in different designs. All the racks can hold the instruments by the finger rings. The equipment can be loaded on racks so that instruments are held open for maximum cleaning. There are stringer racks with a spring-style closure, T-bar instrument stringers, and sterilizing racks on which surgical instruments are stacked flat. Racks are made in different sizes to accommodate small to large instrument loads.