Bone Wax
Bone Hemostat · Ostene
A soft, opaque, waxy material sold in small sterile sticks or blocks, each in a foil-type wrapper inside a peel-back pack. It can be broken off and shaped into small balls.
On the table
What it does, the lengths it comes in and what experienced techs know about it.
What it’s for
Stops bleeding from cut bone surfaces by acting as a mechanical barrier. Used mainly in orthopedicor-thuh-PEE-dikHaving to do with the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments and tendons, and the branch of medicine that treats them.orth/o straightped/o child (the field began with straightening children's bones)-ic relating toFull entry and neurosurgery, for example on the skull edges in a craniotomykray-nee-OT-uh-meeSurgery in which a piece of the skull is removed to reach the brain, and usually put back at the end.crani/o skull-tomy cutting intoFull entry . A small amount is pressed onto the bone with a gloved finger or an elevator such as a Freer.
Lengths and variants
Traditional bone wax is made from beeswax. A newer water-soluble formulation (Ostene) is made from ethylene oxideETH-ih-leen OK-sideA gas used at low temperature to sterilize medical items that heat or moisture would damage.Full entry and propylene oxide copolymers.
What experienced techs know
What techs who reach for it every day know about it.Pro
Through the case
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Caution
What not to do with it, and why.Pro
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2 sources
- Howe. Pharmacology for the Surgical Technologist. 5th ed. Chapter 9 (Medications That Affect Coagulation), p. 121-122
- Fuller. Surgical Technology: Principles and Practice. 8th ed. Chapter 12 (Perioperative Pharmacology), p. 237
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