Surgical apparatus for removing fasteners

A surgical apparatus for removing from the body a fastener having a pair of legs joined by a backspan, the apparatus comprising:

• a pair of contacting members having proximal and distal end portions, each said contacting members having an angled body portion disposed between said proximal and distal end portions;
• a pin passing through each said contacting member angled body portion, said pin defining a common pivot point for said contacting members, wherein said distal end portions of said contacting members are disposed in an overlying relationship distal of said pin;
• and
• first and second elongated members having proximal and distal ends, wherein one of said contacting members is pivotally secured to the distal end of said first elongated member and the other contacting member is pivotally secured to the distal end of said second elongated member.

A method of removing a surgical fastener having a pair of legs joined by a backspan comprising:

• a) providing an apparatus comprising two fastener contacting members configured and dimensioned to contact said fastener legs, said contacting members being pivotally pinned to two biased apart elongated members, said elongated members providing means for moving said contacting members from a first position, wherein the distal ends of said contacting members are disposed in an overlying relationship, to a second position, wherein the distal ends of said contacting members are at least partially spaced apart;
• b) positioning said apparatus such that said contacting members are located between said fastener legs;
• and
• c) forcing together said elongated members to cause said contacting members to move from said first position to said second position, further causing said fastener legs to spread to a configuration suitable for removal from the body.

A surgical apparatus for removing from the body a fastener having a pair of legs joined by a backspan, the apparatus comprising:

• first and second elongated members having proximal and distal ends, each said elongated member proximal ends converging and terminating in a single end portion to form a common pivot point, each said elongated member distal ends being resiliently spaced apart;
• first and second contacting members having proximal and distal end portions, said first contacting member proximal end portion being secured to said first elongated member distal end and said second contacting member proximal end portion being secured to said second elongated member distal end;
• and
• at least one pin passing through each said contacting members, said pin defining a common pivot point for said contacting members.