Gastrointestinal Forceps Market

A gastroenterology unit weighing a USD 415 reusable biopsy forceps against single-use forceps at about USD 38 per use is making the purchase that sets the direction of the gastrointestinal forceps market. Gastrointestinal forceps are the flexible, channel-passed jaws that endoscopists use to take mucosal biopsies, cauterise small polyps, seal bleeding vessels and retrieve foreign bodies; the market covers cold biopsy, hot biopsy, hemostatic coagulation, grasping and reusable forceps sold for colonoscopy, upper endoscopy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and enteroscopy, and endoscopic ultrasound. Douglas Insights sizes it at USD 911.7 million in 2025, rising to USD 1.56 billion in 2035 at a 5.52% revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from 66.94 million forceps uses multiplied by an average realised USD 13.62 per use. Quality is the live issue: Boston Scientific opened a recall of Radial Jaw 4 biopsy forceps on 30 June 2026 over a possible sterile barrier breach, covering 5,020 US units and 20,770 units abroad, per the FDA recall database entry. The study belongs to our surgical instruments coverage and follows the Douglas Insights research methodology.

Why are colonoscopy screening and endoscopy capacity the forces behind gastrointestinal forceps demand?

Four volume forces add 4.76 points a year to gastrointestinal forceps uses, and stool and blood test diversion takes back 0.41, leaving the 4.35% volume leg. Screening colonoscopy, new Asian endoscopy rooms, therapeutic resection and upper gastrointestinal (GI) surveillance explain the gain across all four procedure groups.

Colorectal screening at 45 adds 1.58 points

The US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the start of colorectal cancer screening to age 45 with a grade B recommendation released on 18 May 2021, per the Task Force recommendation. Colonoscopy is the biggest forceps sink. Douglas Insights estimates 88.6 million colonoscopies in 2025 worldwide, each drawing 37.2 forceps uses per 100 procedures, so every extra 1% of colonoscopy volume adds roughly 0.33 million forceps uses. The US baseline is large: an estimated 22,162,641 GI endoscopic procedures were performed there in 2019, 13,837,748 of them colonoscopies. We credit screening with 1.58 points of the volume leg.

Asia Pacific endoscopy capacity adds 1.41 points

Asia Pacific grows its forceps revenue at 7.41% a year, the fastest of any region, because gastroscopy is a front-line cancer check in China, Japan and Korea and hospital endoscopy rooms keep multiplying. Upper endoscopy carries 43.7 forceps uses per 100 procedures in our model, above colonoscopy, because gastric biopsy protocols take several samples per patient. Douglas Insights puts the region’s 2025 forceps revenue at USD 267.1 million, and its share of new volume at well above its 29.3% revenue share. Capacity growth contributes 1.41 points.

Therapeutic resection and bleeding control add 0.97 points

Endoscopic mucosal resection and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) need coagulation forceps to seal vessels before and after cutting, and that work grows faster than diagnostic scoping. Hemostatic coagulation forceps are the fastest-growing product at 8.36% a year, from USD 154.1 million in 2025 to USD 343.9 million in 2035. Therapeutic work adds 0.97 points to the volume leg, concentrated in tertiary hospitals that run ESD lists. Boston Scientific reported Endoscopy net sales of USD 2.92 billion for full-year 2025, up 8.6% reported, in its fourth-quarter results, a useful marker for the whole accessory pool.

Upper GI surveillance adds 0.80 points

Barrett’s oesophagus surveillance, coeliac work-ups and Helicobacter checks generate repeat gastroscopies with mapped biopsies, typically four or more samples per session. In England alone, NHS hospitals recorded 62,729 gastroscopies, 54,367 colonoscopies and 15,286 flexible sigmoidoscopies in June 2025, per the NHS England diagnostics return. Annualised, that is about 1,588,584 GI scopes a year in one country. Biopsies follow. Surveillance adds 0.80 points.

Which headwinds hold down gastrointestinal forceps volumes and realised jaw prices?

Three headwinds cost gastrointestinal forceps about 0.41 points of volume and 0.91 points of price growth a year: non-invasive screening tests, low-cost Chinese competition and lingering reusable fleets. The effect is modest but persistent. Without them, revenue would compound near 6.89% rather than 5.52%.

Blood and stool tests divert some average-risk adults from colonoscopy. Guardant Health announced on 29 July 2024 that the FDA approved its Shield blood test as a primary colorectal screening option for adults 45 and older, with 83% sensitivity for colorectal cancer, per its SEC-filed release. A positive result still sends the patient to colonoscopy, so diversion removes only 0.41 points from forceps volume in our model.

Price competition removes 0.64 points from the gastrointestinal forceps price leg. Nonelectric biopsy forceps are Class I and exempt from premarket notification in the United States, which keeps entry costs low for new makers. Micro-Tech, for example, grew overseas sales 40.84% in 2025 while its GI consumables line, which bundles biopsy, dilation and hemostasis devices, grew only 1.84% to RMB 1.56 billion, a sign of hard domestic pricing.

Reusable forceps fleets take a further 0.27 points off price growth. A 2000 cost study in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy put reusable forceps at USD 37.31 per use at 20 cycles against USD 38 for disposables, so hospitals with sterile processing capacity still see no saving in switching. Reusable forceps hold 10.4% of 2025 revenue and grow just 1.87% a year. The habit fades slowly.

Which forceps type makes the money: cold biopsy, hot biopsy, hemostatic or grasping?

Cold biopsy forceps make the money, holding 46.3% of 2025 gastrointestinal forceps revenue, USD 422.1 million, because most diagnostic scopes that find abnormal mucosa end with a biopsy. Single-use jaws with needles and large cups dominate colonoscopy and gastroscopy alike. Volume wins.

Cold biopsy forceps reach USD 746.7 million by 2035 at 5.87% a year; single-use designs with needles and large-capacity cups keep the per-use price ahead of inflation.

Hemostatic coagulation forceps are worth USD 154.1 million and grow fastest, at 8.36%, because ESD and endoscopic mucosal resection volumes rise faster than diagnostic scoping and each case uses a higher-priced energised jaw.

Grasping and foreign-body forceps take 14.6%, or USD 133.1 million, driven by stent retrieval in ERCP and food bolus removal in emergency gastroscopy.

Hot biopsy forceps hold USD 107.6 million and grow only 2.38%, since cold snare polypectomy has replaced hot biopsy for most diminutive polyps.

Reusable forceps, at USD 94.8 million, are a shrinking installed habit in Europe and parts of Asia rather than a growth line.

Where are gastrointestinal forceps sold, and which region adds the most endoscopy volume?

North America leads gastrointestinal forceps revenue with USD 342.8 million, 37.6% of 2025 value, because US colonoscopy volumes are the highest per head and single-use conversion is close to complete. Asia Pacific grows fastest, and Europe slowest, across the five regions modelled here.

North America grows 4.63% a year to USD 539.0 million by 2035, held back slightly by blood-test diversion. Europe holds USD 227.0 million and grows 4.07%, the slowest rate, because public tenders cap prices and reusable forceps persist. Asia Pacific, at USD 267.1 million, is the fastest-growing region at 7.41% as gastroscopy-led screening widens. Latin America adds USD 44.7 million at 6.12%, led by private hospital chains in Brazil and Mexico. The Middle East and Africa, at USD 30.1 million, is the wildcard: it grows 6.39% from a small base, and Gulf hospital building could lift it faster.

Which companies supply biopsy and grasping forceps to endoscopy suites?

Douglas Insights estimates that Boston Scientific holds a 21.4% share of 2025 gastrointestinal forceps revenue, and that the top three suppliers together control 49.9%, a basis built from disclosed endoscopy revenue and catalogue breadth. Six suppliers cover most hospital endoscopy contracts worldwide.

Boston Scientific leads on the Radial Jaw biopsy line and a GI accessory catalogue sold through the same reps as its stents and clips. The 30 June 2026 Radial Jaw 4 recall, logged in the FDA database, covers 25,790 units in total, small against annual demand but a reminder that sterile packaging is now a competitive variable.

Olympus holds 18.7% on the strength of its scope installed base and EndoJaw single-use forceps, offered for 2.0 mm, 2.8 mm, 3.2 mm and 3.7 mm channels. Micro-Tech, with 9.8%, sells TechBite and TruBite biopsy forceps at prices that suit public tenders, and its lines appear in Moldovan procurement files. Cook Medical supplies Captura biopsy forceps, including a 1.8 mm mini version for 2.0 mm channels. STERIS, through its US Endoscopy line, sells the Raptor grasping device, which combines alligator and rat tooth jaws. CONMED supplies Precisor EXL single-use biopsy forceps, and Richard Wolf sells flexible biopsy and grasping forceps for its own endoscopes.

How much does a hospital pay per biopsy forceps, single-use versus reusable?

Gastrointestinal forceps average USD 13.62 per use worldwide in 2025 on our estimates, from USD 4 to USD 9 in Chinese and Indian tenders up to USD 20 to USD 45 in US hospital contracts. The spread is wide. Energised hemostatic jaws sit higher still.

Distributor list prices sit far above realised levels: a US distributor lists CONMED Precisor EXL biopsy forceps at about USD 119 a piece in boxes of 10. Douglas Insights puts hemostatic coagulation forceps at USD 60 to USD 140 in mature markets because they carry an energised jaw. A reusable biopsy forceps cost USD 415 to buy plus USD 16.56 per reprocessing cycle in the 2000 Gastrointestinal Endoscopy study. Douglas Insights projects the blended price per use to rise 1.12% a year, reaching USD 15.22 in 2035, as single-use and hemostatic devices displace cheaper reusable uses.

Which procedures consume gastrointestinal forceps, and where does the scope boundary sit?

Four procedure groups consume gastrointestinal forceps: colonoscopy, upper endoscopy, ERCP and enteroscopy, and endoscopic ultrasound, together about 168.4 million procedures in 2025 in the Douglas Insights count. Pulmonary forceps are outside it. Each procedure group has its own attach rate in the matrix below.

Buyers are hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and specialty gastroenterology clinics. Pulmonary and urology forceps are excluded, as are snares, clips, needles and injection devices, which sit in our Biopsy Devices Market and Hospital Endoscopy Equipment Market studies. The model counts forceps uses, so one single-use device equals one use and one reusable device equals the uses it delivers before retirement.

Douglas Exclusive: the procedure-by-forceps attach matrix

The procedure-by-forceps attach matrix is a Douglas Insights model built from 31 inputs: two published national procedure counts, four procedure-mix shares, 20 modelled attach rates and five price points. It shows how many gastrointestinal forceps each kind of scope consumes per 100 procedures.

The matrix finds that colonoscopy and upper endoscopy generate 96.6% of all 66.94 million gastrointestinal forceps uses. ERCP and enteroscopy are only 2.2% of procedures yet consume 11.2% of grasping forceps uses, because stent retrieval needs strong jaws. Endoscopic ultrasound uses just 11.9 forceps per 100 procedures. The practical finding: a supplier that wins the gastroscopy biopsy tender in Asia gains more volume than one that wins ERCP retrieval worldwide.

What rules govern biopsy forceps under FDA 21 CFR 876.1075 and the EU MDR?

US rules split gastrointestinal forceps by risk: nonelectric biopsy forceps are Class I and exempt from 510(k) premarket notification under 21 CFR 876.1075, while energised hot and coagulation forceps need clearance. Europe adds separate certification cost through its own device regulation.

Regulation (EU) 2023/607 extended Medical Device Regulation (MDR) transition deadlines, giving sterile Class I and Class IIa devices, which include most single-use forceps, until 31 December 2028 to hold MDR certificates. Smaller European makers of reusable forceps face the steepest certification cost. Some will exit. Reprocessing rules for reusable jaws add validation work that pushes hospitals toward single-use stock, a shift worth about 0.3 points of price growth in our model.

How are hospitals buying gastrointestinal forceps through tenders and group purchasing contracts?

About 70% of gastrointestinal forceps revenue moves through hospital tenders or group purchasing contracts, Douglas Insights calculates. Ambulatory surgery centers buy the rest through distributors, at list-minus pricing near USD 21.79 per use. Group contracts and tenders therefore set most realised forceps prices.

Group contracts in the United States bundle forceps with snares and clips, so a supplier’s bag breadth matters more than any single jaw. European public tenders award by lot. Price usually decides. Hospital sterile departments that track reusable instruments, a niche covered in our Surgical Instrument Tracking Systems Market study, tilt toward reusable forceps; most others now default to single-use stock.

What if blood-based screening or ESD adoption moves the 2035 forceps forecast?

Gastrointestinal forceps revenue lands at USD 1.56 billion in 2035 in the base case, USD 1.36 billion if blood tests divert more colonoscopy, and USD 1.79 billion if ESD spreads faster. Diversion is the bigger swing. Price legs move far less than volume.

The slower case assumes the Shield blood test approved on 29 July 2024 and stool tests take a larger share of average-risk screening, cutting volume growth to 3.42%, and that more recalls like the 30 June 2026 Radial Jaw 4 action push buyers to cheaper brands. The faster case adds wider ESD training in Europe and the United States. Training is the bottleneck. Sensitivity: one extra point of annual forceps-use growth lifts 2035 revenue by USD 156.1 million. Published forecasts run from about 4.5% to 7.6% a year; our 5.52% sits in the lower half because we count price erosion in Asia.

What methodology turns endoscopy counts and forceps prices into the gastrointestinal forceps estimate?

Gastrointestinal forceps revenue equals 168.4 million procedures times 0.397 forceps uses per procedure times USD 13.62, which gives 66.94 million uses and USD 911.7 million for 2025. Every input is listed below, with two independent cross-checks against published procedure and revenue data.

The model covers 34 countries in five regions and uses 31 matrix inputs plus 12 company and price data points. Two cross-checks: the US 2019 count of 22,162,641 procedures, grown at 1.4% a year, gives 24.1 million US procedures in 2025, 14.3% of our global count, in line with North America’s 37.6% revenue share once higher US prices are allowed for; and Boston Scientific’s USD 2.92 billion Endoscopy sales sit far above our USD 195.1 million estimate for its forceps line. Douglas Insights forecasts volume at 4.35% and price at 1.12%, for 102.5 million uses and USD 1.56 billion by 2035.

Sources

1. US Food and Drug Administration Class 2 recall Z-2838-2026, Radial Jaw 4 biopsy forceps (2026)
2. eCFR 21 CFR 876.1075 Gastroenterology-urology biopsy instrument (2026)
3. US Preventive Services Task Force Colorectal cancer screening recommendation (2021)
4. Guardant Health via SEC EDGAR Shield FDA approval release (Exhibit 99.1) (2024)
5. Boston Scientific Fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (2026)
6. NHS England Diagnostic waiting times and activity, June 2025 (2025)
7. EUR-Lex Regulation (EU) 2023/607 (2023)