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Devices designed to compress a structure and/or to bring together several isolated objects and/or anatomic structures by pressing, fastening, or binding them firmly. Clamps are usually handheld, manual instruments with a working end that permits a large jaw opening and a handle and without a preferred resting state; dedicated clamps are available in a variety of shapes and sizes according to the procedure to be performed or the object to be held. Clamps are clinically used as dental, surgical, and postmortem instruments and/or to hold ancillary devices during those procedures; other clamps are intended to hold objects (e.g., test tubes, small instruments).
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