Laparoscopic fixation and guiding devices

Since the new advances in video technology in the mid 1980's and the couplmg of the video camera to the laparoscope the surgeon no longer needs to control the laparoscope with his own hands. The advantage of this new development in laparoscopic surgery is that (1) it is not as tiring to perform (i.e., he no longer had to bend over the patient to look through the laparoscope's ocular), (2) the whole operating team could follow the progress of the surgery (for better or worse), and (3) that the surgeon is then enabled to operate with two hands, a new skill which must be learned since it is one of the keys to being more effective and efficient under the laparoscope. One of these advanced skills, intracorporeal suturing, is an especially demanding skill and requires a well-centered, and steady camera support for the technique to be performed efficiently. The disadvantage is that he must give oral commands to the individual who is now charged with guiding the laparoscope within the operative field and this disadvantage alone is sometimes thought the tip the balance in the wrong direction.