Patent ID: 8821377

Claim:
A method of carrying out laparoscopic surgery to remove a specimen from the body of a patient, the method comprising the steps of: (i) providing a laparoscopic port which comprises tubular housing, an inflatable cuff around the distal end of the housing, an insufflation nozzle which is in fluid communication with the inflatable cuff, and a locking ring which can be passed over the proximal end of the housing and secured relative to the housing at different points along the length of the housing, and positioning the laparoscopic port through the skin of the patient so that the distal end of the laparoscopic port is in a body cavity and the proximal end of the laparoscopic port is outside the patient; (ii) providing a laparoscopic bag which has a top portion and a body portion, and only one opening which is in the top portion, and passing the laparoscopic bag through the laparoscopic port into the body cavity; (iii) placing the specimen into the body portion of laparoscopic bag; (iv) passing the top portion of the laparoscopic bag out through the skin of the patient, before or after removing the tubular housing of the laparoscopic port from the patient's body; (v) inserting the tubular housing of the laparoscopic port back inside the top portion of the laparoscopic bag so that the distal end of the housing is in the body cavity; (vi) inflating the inflatable cuff of the tubular housing using the insufflation nozzle, passing the locking ring over the proximal end of the housing, and locking the locking ring against the housing so that the top portion of the bag and the skin of the patient are gripped between the inflatable cuff and the locking ring; (vii) attaching the top portion of the laparoscopic bag to a sheath, which comprises a tube of medical-grade waterproof material; (viii) placing a mechanical morcellator through the sheath into the laparoscopic bag; (ix) morcellating the specimen under irrigation in the laparoscopic bag; and (x) removing the morcellated specimen from the body of the patient through the top of the laparoscopic bag and the sheath.