A randomized, prospective study comparing the use of the missile trocar and the pyramidal trocar for laparoscopy access.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The missile trocar was developed for smooth abdominal penetration of the primary port. It contains a longitudinal tunnel connecting the abdominal cavity with the outside. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of the missile trocar compared with the traditional method using the Veress needle. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The times required to enter the abdominal cavity and the difficulty of the procedure were compared with the traditional Veress needle. A blind technique was used on 100 consecutive patients in a randomized fashion. RESULTS: The missile trocar technique took 2.7 +/- 1.6 minutes to perform compared with 3.9 +/- 1.3 min in the Veress needle group (p = 0.001), and the difficulty of the procedure was 2.1 +/- 1.9 cm (p = 0.433) rated from 10-cm scale. No carbon dioxide leakage or serious complications occurred in any patient. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study indicate that a long-tip missile trocar technique may be used safely when the technique is fully understood. This procedure is a relatively quick alternative approach for laparoscopy.