Abstract
Although laparoscopic surgery is less invasive than an open procedure, it is often more difficult to acquire an adequate surgical field, compared to an open procedure. The Endoractor is a compressed sponge designed for organ retraction. It can be easily inserted into abdominal operative field through a 12 mm or larger obturator. Because the Endoractor is composed of close to 100% cellulose, it does not cause tissue damage. We can place the Endoractor into the abdomen rolled up, and then expand it with normal saline to displace the bowel. We compared 12 laparoscopic myomectomies with the Endoractor, and 36 procedures without the Endoractor to evaluate its effectiveness. We found no significant difference in surgical time and blood loss with or without the Endoractor. In addition, we found that the Endoractor is very effective for visualization of the operative field. Especially, when the patient position is altered from Trendelenburg, the Endoractor prevents the bowel from obscuring the operative field.
