54 Basic Surgical Instruments: Pictures, Names, and Uses
All 54 basic surgical instruments with clear photos, names and what each one is used for, grouped by function. Free printable version and flashcards included.
Already have Pro? Sign in
3 Instruments for Suctioning & Aspirating
Every card below is a live entry from our comprehensive instrument library. Tap any card to see alternative names, inspection points, caution notes, and passing technique.
Poole Suction ProbeRemoves large amounts of blood and fluid from the abdomen or other body cavity, including amniotic fluid. The inner tube alone gives finer suction, such as down the femoral canal in hip replacement.Suctioning & Aspirating
Ferg-Frazier SuctionEvacuates fluid, blood, and smoke from deep, narrow surgical pathways like nasal cavities, ear canals, and neurosurgical fields.Suctioning & Aspirating
Yankauer SuctionGeneral suction of blood and fluid in almost any wound, with less risk of pulling in tissue. Anesthesia also uses it to clear secretions from the mouth and throat as anesthesia is reversed.Suctioning & Aspirating
Telling the near-identical apart.
Nobody confuses a retractor with a suction tip. What costs you time on the Mayo stand is the pairs that look nearly identical in a crowded tray. Every pair comes down to a single distinguishing feature:
Deaver vs. Richardson Retractor
Curved Mayo vs. Metzenbaum Scissors
Crile Hemostat vs. Kelly Forceps
Allis Forceps vs. Babcock Forceps
Needle Holder vs. Hemostatic Clamp
Adson Tissue vs. Adson-Brown Forceps
Would you know it on the back table?
Reading an instrument list is not the same as identifying it in seconds under surgical lights. Our built-in testing system generates questions directly from real cases with authentic photographs and realistic distractors.
Try this live question from our testing system. Select an answer below to see the instant clinical explanation — no account required for this sample.
The six functional families.
Instrument names become intuitive once you stop memorising them one by one. Almost every basic instrument belongs to one of these six functional groups:
Cutting & Dissecting
Scalpels, scissors, and curettes designed to divide, excise, or incise tissue. The working edge is sharp and must be protected when passing.
Grasping & Holding
Tissue forceps, sponge holders, and tenaculums that manipulate tissue or maintain exposure without slipping.
Clamping & Occluding
Hemostats and vascular clamps that compress blood vessels or hollow lumens to achieve haemostasis and prevent leakage.
Retracting
Handheld and self-retaining instruments that hold wound edges and organs away from the operative field to optimize visualization.
Suturing
Instruments engineered to drive needles, manipulate suture material, or approximate wound margins with clips and staples.
Suctioning & Aspirating
Hollow probes and cannulas attached to vacuum lines to remove blood, smoke, peritoneal fluid, and debris from the surgical field.
Why identification speed matters at the table.
Naming an instrument on a written quiz and handing it across a Mayo stand in under two seconds are two completely different skills. In the operating room, a surgeon will ask for an instrument with their eyes locked on the incision. If you hesitate or deliver the wrong clamp, the operative tempo breaks.
- Pass with purpose and orientation: Ring-handled instruments (scissors, clamps, needle holders) must be placed firmly into the surgeon's palm with the rings down and the tips facing upward or in the direction of intended use.
- Protect the tip: Scalpels (#3, #7) and sharp retractors (Senn, Volkman) should always be handed over with the sharp edge facing away from your hands and the surgeon's fingers.
- Real tables are not clean catalog shoots: On a live back table, instruments sit under lap sponges, reflect glare from surgical lights, and get wet with saline. Learn instruments by their distinctive silhouettes and hinge geometries.
Choose your study path.
Whether you are preparing for clinical rotations tomorrow or studying for your NBSTSA / NCCT certification exam, CSTSetup gives you the exact tools you need.
Web Library & Guide
Browse all 54 instruments with high-resolution photos, clinical uses, and look-alike guides online anytime.
Daily Tests & Custom Trays
Take 5 free practice questions every single day, download this 54-card deck as a printable PDF, and build and save your own surgical setups.
Full Testing Suite & PDF Export
Unlimited timed exams, look-alike drills, full printable cut-up PDF flashcard decks, and access to hundreds of specialty back tables.
The 54, and every other instrument, on your phone.
Quiz yourself on the way to clinicals, with the same account and the same Pro as the site.
CSTSetup
Everything on the site, in your pocket. One account and one Pro with the site.
380+ case setups
Instruments, positioning and steps for each case.
Every setup is a deck
Flashcards of exactly what's on the tray.
30 question types
Trays, positioning, photographs and more.
Exam prep
Practice tests and timed exams for the CST, TS-C, CRCST, CSPDT, CSFA, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN, today's five free.
A plan for every day
A daily lesson counting down to your exam.
Build your own setups
No account needed to start; it syncs when you sign in.
Find any setup fast
Setups and instruments in one search.
Log every case
Your clinical case log, ready for review, even with no signal.
Clock in from the OR
Your clinical hours, counted.
Instruments
Just the instruments, offline, with no signal needed. One account and one Pro with the site.
Five free questions every day
And an instrument of the day to guess.
9 question types
Photo, name, use, safety and more.
Study your way
By class or by specialty.
More than a name Pro
How to check it, clean it and pass it, and where it's kept.
Beat the look-alikes Pro
Side by side until they stick.
Track every instrument Pro
Solid, learning, slipping or not met yet.
Timed exams Pro
Up to 25 questions against the clock.
Turn it in 3D Pro
At every size it comes in.
Free is genuinely useful. Pro is the whole thing.
Free, for good. No card.
- All 3,358 instrument cards
- Every General setup in full
- 5 exam questions a day
- Your own preference cards
Pass your exam. Know every case.
Everything in Free, plus:
- All 385 setups in every specialty: back table, Mayo and every step
- Practice that never runs out and full timed exams for the CST, TS-C, CRCST, CSPDT, CSFA, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN, with the why behind every answer
- Flashcards on any tray, timed to come back before you forget
- Every instrument card in full: the 3D model, cautions, inspection, how to pass it
Cancel any time from your account. Not worth it? Email us within 30 days of a charge for a refund, one per customer. Refund policy
Pro is also in the CSTSetup app, on the same account. Already have Pro? Log in
The honest answers.
What is CSTSetup?
A study site and apps for surgical techs and students, made by surgical techs. It has the real back table for 385 procedures, 3,358 instruments with photos, and practice for the CST, TS-C, CRCST, CSPDT, CSFA, NCLEX-RN and NCLEX-PN. Programs use it to teach and students use it to study. You can start free, and Pro opens all of it.
Can I cancel?
Any time, from your dashboard, and you keep Pro until the period you already paid for runs out. No email, no phone call, no retention script.
Does it work on my phone?
One account covers the website and the apps. Study on the bus, review on the unit, and your progress is the same everywhere. It lives on the account, not the device.
I haven't set an exam date yet.
You don't need one. The daily lesson is 10 questions every day, built from what you are due to see again and what you miss most. Add a date later and your home page counts down to it; more practice is there whenever you want it.
What happens to my progress if I stop paying?
Nothing is deleted. Your streak, your history and everything you have mastered are still there if you come back, and the free tier keeps working.
Is this enough on its own?
For the setups and instruments, yes: 385 trays and 3,358 instruments, tested until you are quick with them. For the exam it is practice, written to the exam's official outline, with full timed exams. It does not replace your program's textbook.
Did you assign this 54-instrument list?
The same platform your students use to study instruments runs their complete clinical case logs, attendance, and preceptor sign-offs — scored automatically against AST, NCCT, and CC4SA standards.
Explore the Educator Portal- Automatic case scoring against AST 6th Ed & NCCT requirements
- Preceptors verify and sign off via secure QR codes without logins
- Clinical hours tracking with optional geofencing
- One-click multi-tab spreadsheet exports ready for accreditation audits
Take your knowledge to real surgical tables.
Printable flashcards: the 54 free, and every setup as a deck