Containment shield for surgical instruments

A containment shield operable to mount on an output housing of a surgical cutting instrument, said containment shield comprising:

• a body having a distal face, a proximal face, a tab, and a slot wherein:
• the body is transparent and has a generally consistent thickness such that the body is pliable and resilient;
• the body is generally conical when the tab is in the slot;
• the body is flat when the tab is not in the slot;
• the body has a mounting hole formed when the tab is inserted in the slot operable to engage the output housing of the surgical cutting instrument;
• the body having a suction port operable to engage a suction tube of a suction device;
• the body does not pass light having a wavelength of approximately 10.6 μm or 1.6 μm;
• and
• when the tab is in the slot and the body is mounted on the output housing of the surgical cutting instrument, the distal face is at an acute angle with respect to a longitudinal axis through the mounting hole and facing toward a cutting device of the surgical cutting instrument while the proximal face is at an obtuse angle with respect to the longitudinal axis and facing toward the output housing side of the surgical cutting instrument.