Ingenious design, quality workmanship, and inexplicable charm aside — how about an instrument that could have colleagues and assistants whispering, "Has Dr. You-Know-Who been working out?" Well not exactly, but the Terminator's beefy joints and "triple-action" articulations do decrease the force needed to cut wire by up to 40%. So, after a lengthy day of pinning fractures and braiding tendons, the cleverly equipped surgeon might leave the O/R staff wondering from whence that little extra "oomph" came to cut K-wires up to 2.2 mm with such apparent ease.

Then there's safety. Which instrument causes more surgical teams to squint and grimace in fear for their eyesight than wire cutters? This patented wire cutter, with its autoclavable silicone "lips,” clamps tightly to the pin just as the blades begin to snip. The exungulated piece stays put and out of peepers, puckers, and patients

Is endurance ever an issue? As is the nature of cutting instruments, one too many clips and the cutter ist kaputt! Such may be the fate of other cutters, but not the interminable Terminator. Both the tungsten carbide blades and the silicon inserts are replaceable. Repair kits consisting of new blades (and/or silicon inserts), new screws and Allen wrench can rejuvenate a tried, but tired Terminator. Simply unscrew worn parts and replace them with new. The kit can be purchased for a fraction of the complete cutter price.

Variety is the wellspring of inner satisfaction. For the surgeon whose cutting needs cannot be "cookie-cuttered" into the pattern of a single instrument, Buxton offers an alternative. The Terminator has a fraternal twin in the form of a side-end cutter capable of delivering its metal to those deep, dark hard-to-reach areas and of cutting wires up to 1.6 mm diameter.

Hand & Footnotes, Vol. 2, No. 4