Antique Trepanation Elevator with Checkered Blade, 19th Century Skull Surgery Instrument

An elevator from a 19th century trepanning outfit, its checkered working face giving the surgeon grip against wet tissue and bone. In trepanation the scalp was turned back and the periosteum stripped clean from the skull with an elevator like this before the toothed trephine crown was set to the bone; afterward the elevator lifted the loosened disc of bone free. Trepanning instruments are among the most sought after of all surgical antiques, and the elevator is the piece most often missing from an incomplete set. Trephines and a second trepanation elevator are also available separately in the collection.