Patent ID: 7338473
Filing Date: 2008-03-04
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A method of maintaining an operative pneumoperitoneum in a patient undergoing a surgical procedure comprising the steps of: introducing a trocar through a portion of an abdominal wall of a patient; introducing a surgical instrument through a lumen in the trocar; introducing a pressurized gas from a controlled pressure source into the surgical instrument; directing the pressurized gas from the surgical instrument into the patient through a passageway between the surgical instrument and a wall of the lumen in the trocar, the pressurized gas from the surgical instrument forming a gas seal around the surgical instrument within the lumen of the trocar so as to directly contact the surgical instrument, while said pressurized gas simultaneously maintains an operative pneumoperitoneum in the patient by preventing a loss of pressurized gas from the pneumoperitoneum through the lumen in the trocar; and monitoring the pneumoperitoneum of the patient to provide feedback for maintaining the operative pneumoperitoneum.