Surgical Incisions

In surgical practice, deciding on the right type of surgical access for a specific condition would be a skill of its own for a surgeon. The decision to select a specific incision would depend on the several ascpects e.g. surgical site, related anatomical structures, easy access, less complications, quicker healing and minimum scar. But, at instances, all these options might not be fulfilled and the surgeons have to make a professional judgment as to decide on what's best for the patients' condition and act fast in order to save the life of the patient.
List of Surgical Incisions
Some of the more famous surgical incisions are:
Agnew's incision
An incision used to release pus in the lacrimal sac in acute phlegmonous dacryocystitis. It is named after Cornelius Rea Agnew
Alexander incision
Auvray incision
Bar’s incision
Battle incision
Bardenheuer incision
Bergmann’s incision
Bevan’s incision
Cherney incision
Chernez incision
Chevron incision
Circular incision
Clute incision
Deaver’s incision
Dührsen incision
Fergusson’s incision
Fowler’s incision
Girdiron's incision
An oblique incision made in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, classically used for appendectomy
Graefe incision
Heerman’s incision
Hartmann incision
Kehr’s incision
Kocher’s incision
An oblique incision made in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, classially used for open cholecystectomy. Named after Emil Theodor Kocher. It is ppropriate for certain operations on the liver, gallbladder and biliary tract. This shares a name with the Kocher incision used for thyroid surgery: a transverse, slightly curved incision about 2 cm above the sternoclavicular joints;
Kustner’s incision
Langenbeck’s incision
LaRoque’s incision
Lynch’s incision
Mac Arthur's incision
Marylard incision
A variation of Pfannenstiel incision is the Maylard incision in which the rectus abdominis muscles are sectioned transversally to permit wider access to the pelvis.
McBurney incision
Midline incision
The most common incision for laparotomy is the midline incision, a vertical incision which follows the linea alba.
* The upper midline incision usually extends from the xiphoid process to the umbilicus.
* A typical lower midline incision is limited by the umbilicus superiorly and by the pubic symphysis inferiorly.
* Sometimes a single incision extending from xiphoid process to pubic symphysis is employed, especially in trauma surgery.
Midline incisions are particularly favoured in diagnostic laparotomy, as they allow wide access to most of the abdominal cavity.
Mackenrodt incision
Parker's incision
Perthes' incision
Péan's incision
Pfannanstiel’s incision
The Pfannenstiel incision, a transverse incision below the umbilicus and just above the pubic symphysis. In the classic Pfannenstiel incision, the skin and subcutaneous tissue are incised transversally, but the linea alba is opened vertically. It is the incision of choice for Cesarean section and for abdominal hysterectomy for benign disease.
Rocky-Davis’ incision
The Davis or Rockey-Davis "muscle-splitting" right lower quadrant incision for appendectomy.
Schuchardt’s incision
Shambaugh incision
Yorke-Mason’s incision
Warren incision
Wilde's incision
See Also
* Surgical positions

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