Peanut sponge (Kittner dissector)
A small, firm, sterile, oval, peanut-shaped roll of gauze, sometimes with a cotton core, mounted in the tip of a clamp (such as a sponge-holding forceps or tonsil clamp) rather than held by hand.
How it is used
Used for blunt dissection, to gently separate tissue planes, clear away loose connective tissue, or blot small amounts of blood in a confined surgical field, taking advantage of its firm, rounded shape and the control afforded by the clamp.
Clinical tip
Always keep it mounted on the clamp and never allow it to be used loose in the wound; like any other small gauze item, it must be included in the formal count to prevent it from being inadvertently left behind.
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.