Surgical instrument with jaws and movable internal scissors and method for use thereof

Abstract

A surgical instrument includes a forceps unit for being positioned within an anatomical cavity and inner member having scissors at a distal end thereof. The forceps unit includes a housing, an outer tubular member, an intermediate member, and a handle mechanism coupled with at least one of the intermediate and outer tubular members for creating relative movement between the intermediate and outer tubular members. The outer tubular member has a proximal end mounted on the housing and terminates distally at a distal end. The intermediate member has a tubular body disposed telescopically within the outer tubular member, a proximal end mounted in the housing and an integral one-piece distal end defining a pair of opposed jaws resiliently biased apart such that relative movement of the outer tubular member distal end over the jaws causes the jaws to close. The inner member includes a tubular member removably disposed at least partly within the intermediate member and carrying scissors for performing at least one of the functions of cutting, cauterizing, or the like. The scissors can be selectively advanced to be between the jaws for cutting by closing the jaws.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.