Neurosurgical cottonoid (patty)
A small, sterile, thin, flat pad of compressed rayon or cotton felt, rectangular or strip-shaped, with an incorporated radiopaque thread or band; supplied in several graduated sizes.
How it is used
Placed over exposed brain, spinal cord, or nerve tissue in neurosurgery and microsurgery to protect and gently retract it, keep it moist, and absorb small amounts of blood or irrigation fluid without adhering to it.
Clinical tip
Moisten it before placement and keep strict visual tracking and counting at all times, since its small size allows it to migrate within deep, narrow surgical corridors, making it a specifically recognized retained-foreign-body risk in neurosurgery.
Sources
This entry is part of the Instriq catalog, researched and written per specialty from real web research -- never generated or invented without verification -- and reviewed skeptically and independently before publication. How this catalog is written.
History
Added to the catalog on 2026-10-05. Content last updated: 2026-10-07.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.