n. a surgical instrument designed to compress a structure, such as a blood vessel or the intestine (see illustration). A variety of clamps have been designed for specific surgical procedures. Blood-vessel (atraumatic) clamps are used to stop bleeding from the cut vessels and are designed not to damage the arterial wall. Intestinal clamps prevent the intestinal contents from leaking into the abdominal cavity during operations on the intestines and are designed either not to damage the intestinal wall (noncrushing clamps) or to close the open end (crushing clamps) prior to excising and suturing the intestine to create an anastomosis.
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