The present invention provides a patty manager having a dispensing tray including one or more dispensing regions for receiving surgical patties, and a recovery tray having a plurality of recovery regions for receiving surgical patties. Each dispensing region may include a dispensing indicia located, and each recovery region can include a recovery indicia, which may correspond to a substantially similar dispensing indicia of the dispensing tray. A string guide may be disposed about at least a portion of the dispensing regions for the organization and management of the patty strings. A gripping tool may further be coupled to one of the dispensing or recovery trays.
