Abstract:

In laparoscopic and thoracoscopic surgery for malignant tumors, it is often necessary to recognize intraoperative rapid diagnosis by sampling a small section of tissue that is suspected of the lymphatic or disseminated metastasis of malignant tumor cells, or of the direct invasion. However, sampling of the target tissue has to be carried out without dropping a section into the peritoneal or thoracic cavity and port-site tumor recurrence. We developed a device named the “lymph node carrier (LNC)” that is capable of instantaneously carrying a small piece of tissue out of the body after its insertion into the trocar for conventional laparoscopic surgery. LNC is composed of the following three parts: 1) the carrier container; 2) the external sheath that re-encloses the tissue, which protruded from the container, into the container; and 3) the air-sealing cap. In the in vivo study three sows were used to remove the sigmoid colon and to carry adipose tissue containing the dissected lymph nodes out of the body. Sliding of the external sheath and the LNC container allowed the re-enclosure of adipose tissue protruding from the container. Carriage time of the dissected lymph nodes out of three sows was 37.7±1.5 seconds in mean±SD. LNC was suggested to be a surgical device capable of allowing, in a very efficient manner and a very short period of time, the repeated collection of removed specimens out of the body without damaging the air-sealing valves of the trocar for endoscopic surgery.

Authors:

Tokihisa Yamasaki, MS, Technical staff, Kyushu University, Center for Advanced Medical Initiatives, Fukuoka-ken, Japan, Takeshi Ohdaira, MD, PhD, Professor, Kyushu University, Center for Advanced Medical Initiatives, Fukuoka-ken, Japan

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