Abstract: The device includes a pair of rollers through oppositely disposed notches through the wall of a tubular section to engage opposite sides of the shaft of a surgical instrument that is through the bore of the tubular section. The tubular section is slideable in a sleeve element and the ends of the rollers are rotatably received in the respective slots of two pairs of slots in the walls of the sleeve element. A pad removably mounted on one end of the sleeve element has a central opening for the instrument shaft to pass through. The pairs of slots converge in the direction of the end of the sleeve element on which the pad is mounted to a distance apart not less than the distance between the bottoms of the notches in the tubular section.