Surgical retractors are gaining popularity owing to numerous benefits offered to surgeons such as greater surgical precision, safe operative procedures, and increased patient outcomes. Surgical retractors helps to retract, expose or hold back tissue, muscle, organs or bone for surgical exposure. Wide range of surgical retractors are available in the market including hand-held, self-retaining and table-mounted retractors. The size and type of retractor chosen is determined by the task, including the depth of the incision. The smaller types are used generally on the surface to hold back skin and tissue, while the larger ones are designed to retract muscles, organs and bones in the deeper cavities of the body. Increase in prevalence of chronic disorders among the growing elderly patient pool will lead to rise in number of surgical procedures. This, in turn, is expected to drive the demand for surgical retractors in the future. Moreover, major industry players are also investing in R&D to develop technologically advanced and application specific surgical retractors. Launch of innovative solutions that helps to enhance outcomes of surgeries is expected to accelerate the growth of the market in the future.

The global surgical retractors market has been segmented based on product type, application, end-users, and region. Based on product type, the global surgical retractors market is categorized into hand-held retractors, self-retaining retractors, table-mounted retractors and others. Hand-held retractors segment held substantial share of the global market in 2019. Easy availability, affordability and increased preference for hand-held retractors by healthcare professionals are major factors anticipated to drive the segment growth. Moreover, hand-held retractors are widely used in large number of surgical procedures including abdominal and cardiothoracic surgeries which is expected to further drive it demand over the coming few years.

Application-wise, the global surgical retractors market is segmented into abdominal surgeries, cardiothoracic surgeries, obstetric & gynecological surgeries, cosmetic & reconstructive surgeries, and orthopedic surgeries. On the basis of end-users, the global surgical retractors market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and others. Hospitals & clinics held majority of the market share in 2019. This is attributable to increased adoption of surgical retractors owing to large number of surgical procedures performed in these facilities.

The global surgical retractors market is cumulative to North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the global surgical retractors market in 2019, however Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a highest pace through 2028.

Increase in volume of surgeries performed in the U.S. is a major factor expected to drive the surgical retractors market in the region. According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons 2019 Report, more than 1.8 million surgical aesthetic procedures were performed in the U.S. Moreover, over 5.9 million reconstructive surgeries were performed in the country in 2019, witnessing rise of 1% over 2018. Furthermore, presence of large elderly patient population, increase in number of ambulatory surgical centers coupled with launch of technologically advanced surgical instruments by key industry players are other major factors likely to boost the growth of the market in North America.

However, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a rapid pace over the next few years. There is a strong growth potential in the emerging economies such as India, and China. The rapidly rising geriatric population in countries such as India and China provide large market for surgical retractors. According to the United Nations, China and India together were home to over one third of the world’s population aged 60 years or over in 2017. Presence of high unmet medical needs along with surge in incidence of chronic disorders in geriatric patient pool in the developing countries, divert the focus of market players to serve the untapped population in these emerging economies.