Patent ID: 8469987

Claim:
A method of treating an intracorporeal site within a patient, comprising: a. providing a trocar assembly having (i) a trocar with an elongated shaft, a tissue penetrating distal tip and a handle and (ii) a trocar sheath having an elongated shaft with a proximal end, a distal end, a cylindrical distal portion that forms a releasable connection with the trocar, an open slit that extends from the cylindrical distal portion to the proximal end, and a u-shaped expander collar located on the proximal end that by itself holds the slit open in a tapered configuration along a length of the trocar sheath; b. inserting the tissue penetrating distal tip of the trocar into the patient's tissue and advancing the trocar assembly through a patient's tissue until the distal end of the trocar sheath is located at the desired intracorporeal site; c. disengaging the trocar from the cylindrical distal portion of the trocar sheath; d. withdrawing the trocar from the trocar sheath; and e. advancing a treatment device having a distal treatment portion through the interior of the trocar sheath and along the length of the trocar sheath having the tapered configuration of the open slit until the distal treatment portion is at the intracorporeal site.