A sterile, hand-held, mechanical surgical instrument that is passed through an existing skin puncture and tissue tract to trim the trailing limbs of an implanted suture, typically after it aids in advancing a surgical knot to the tissue access site (e.g., the femoral artery or other tissue). It has a suture cutting mechanism at the distal end and a handle with operating levers/mechanisms at the proximal end; it may be used as an adjunct to a percutaneous suture/ligature implantation instrument. This is a single-use device.