Small wonder if an orthopedist's mind should drift to the bazaar adventures of the mundivagant ship captain (and surgeon) of the classic novel, Gulliver's Travels.

In any given day, or even a single surgery, the retractors one must contend with can run the gamut from grossly oversized to woefully under matched for a particular application. Recently, Buxton found itself at what first seemed to be the design fringes of its shoulder retractor systems when asked to supply them with 20 x 20 mm detachable blades for applications in knee surgery and 55 x 85 mm blades for use in hip procedures.

Humerus Areas, Vol. 2, No. 1