Three‐Dimensional printed instruments used in a Septoplasty: A new paradigm in Surgery

OBJECTIVE: Three‐dimensional (3D) printing has been rapidly adopted by different surgical disciplines. It has shown itself to have improved outcomes in education, pre‐operative planning, and reconstruction. However, using 3D printing to create surgical instruments is a niche within the literature that has not yet been fully explored. The authors present a study in which it is hypothesized that 3D printing surgical instruments can be utilized successfully within ENT surgery. METHODS: As one of the most common ENT operations worldwide, a septoplasty was chosen as the procedure to provide proof of concept. For the septoplasty, five instruments were printed: a scalpel handle, needle holders, toothed forceps, a Cottle/Freer elevator, and a Killian's speculum. The entire set took 224 minutes on average to print, weighed 36 g, and only used approximately 86 pence ($1.20 USD) worth of polylactic acid plastic to create. RESULTS: All steps in performing a septoplasty on a human cadaver with the 3D printed tools were possible and were undertaken successfully. This yielded a similar outcome to using stainless steel with the added benefit of there being a large reduction in cost and the ability for rapid customization according to the surgeon's preferences. CONCLUSION: As technology and mainstream interest in 3D printing develops, the availability of more precise Computer‐Aided Design software will allow for more complex designs of tools to be created. Currently, 3D printing has been shown to be a promising method from which future surgical tools can be fashioned to meet the complex, dynamic demands of surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: N/A.