Looking like a soup ladle slammed in an autoclave door, one could easily mistake the Browne Deltoid Retractor for some sort of humeral head lever. First impressions can be deceiving. Once in hand, it is immediately apparent that the bumps and bends are all wrong for insertion into the humeral joint.

Just turn the instrument around so its handle points off the right shoulder at 10 o'clock or left shoulder at 2 o'clock and its unusual shape begins to make sense. The broad, teardrop shaped blade sports a spherical indentation 50 mm in diameter and 12 mm deep. In a shoehorn fashion, slip the convex surface of the "scoop" under the deltoid and over the lateral aspect of the humeral head. The deltoid is effectively retracted, offering exceptional exposure to the anterior portion of the glenohumeral joint for arthroplasties and capsule repair procedures. The fleur-de-lis at handle's end slips accommodatingly between index and middle fingers, its curvaceous horns providing a firm and positive grip.

The Shoulder, Vol. 1, No. 4