Specially designed curved reusable instruments for single-access laparoscopy: 2.5-year experience in 265 patients

Minimally invasive surgery has been expanded recently by an increasing interest in single-incision, single-port, single-access laparoscopy (SAL). The main drawbacks of this laparoscopic approach include the clashing of the instruments and/or the crossing of the surgeon's hands due to the single-access site and an increase in the cost of the procedures due to the use of disposable materials. Furthermore, one of the rules of laparoscopy, which is to maintain the surgeon's two effectors at the right angle using the optical system as the bisector of this angle, is frequently lost during SAL. To solve these problems, curved reusable instruments for basic and advanced procedures in SAL have been developed based on this laparoscopic principle. The technique consists of the placement of a standard 11-mm reusable trocar, a 10-mm standard rigid scope, and the insertion of curved reusable instruments transabdominally without trocars. The 2.5-year experience in 265 patients is reported here.