Kerrison rongeur
A punch-type rongeur with a fixed distal footplate and a sliding blade that bites through bone as the handle is squeezed; available in multiple widths and angulations (straight, up-biting, down-biting).
How it is used
Used to remove vertebral lamina and bone edges during laminectomy, laminotomy and foraminotomy, and to enlarge craniectomy margins; one of the most frequently used instruments in spinal stenosis and disc herniation surgery.
Clinical tip
Advance the blade under control and without tenting the underlying dura, since durotomy is a well-described complication of this instrument.
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 2026-10-02.
Dates derived from the project's public version-control history on GitHub, not a live collaborative edit log.