Incident · Recall
da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns
Class I recall (Urgent Medical Device Notification May 8 2013): micro-cracks near the distal shaft on '-09'/'-10' versions of the EndoWrist Hot Shears develop after cleaning/sterilization, creating an arc path for monopolar energy to leak and burn tissue outside the surgical field (134 tip-cover complaints + 82 MDRs, Jan 2010-Dec 2011). Instrument versions corrected/superseded. The load-bearing historical da Vinci safety event.
Occurred 2013-05-08 · da Vinci (and Ion)
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /incidents/davinci-hot-shears-burn-recall-2013.md
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/incidents/4c353777-3f5f-4afa-82ed-7ebcef5d6b65
- Data documentation: /data
Sources (2)
- Medscape · https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/804067
- YouHaveALawyer · https://www.youhavealawyer.com/blog/2013/05/13/da-vinci-robot-recall/
Common questions
- What happened in da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns?
- Class I recall (Urgent Medical Device Notification May 8 2013): micro-cracks near the distal shaft on '-09'/'-10' versions of the EndoWrist Hot Shears develop after cleaning/sterilization, creating an arc path for monopolar energy to leak and burn tissue outside the surgical field (134 tip-cover complaints + 82 MDRs, Jan 2010-Dec 2011). Instrument versions corrected/superseded. The load-bearing historical da Vinci safety event.
- When did this incident occur?
- The incident is recorded as occurring on May 8, 2013 on the DEPLOY registry. The date reflects the underlying real-world event, not the registry record's creation date.
- What robot was involved in da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns?
- da Vinci (and Ion) is the recorded robot involved in this incident.
- Has anyone responded to da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns?
- No responses to this incident are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Operators, manufacturers, or affected parties can submit responses to the editorial team; absence is not a guarantee no response was issued.
- What is the current status of da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns?
- This incident is an active record on the DEPLOY registry; no retraction or correction has been issued.
Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-04
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-06-04
Sources by quality tier
- 2
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for da Vinci Hot Shears (monopolar curved scissors) Class I recall: insulation micro-cracks caused tissue burns.Canonical ID 4c353777-3f5f-4afa-82ed-7ebcef5d6b65