Abstract: A cutting and coagulating forceps includes a housing with a protruding barrel, a pair of electrocautery jaws which are closed by camming contact with the mouth of the barrel when the jaws are retracted, and an independently sliding blade which passes between the jaws. The jaws are opened by squeezing a trigger, and the blade is advanced by pressing a lever with the thumb. Forward blade movement is limited by a stop whose position is a function of jaw position, so that the blade cannot strike the jaws, yet always can travel short of contact with the tips of the jaws.