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images and videos to a post-op report, add annotations and follow-
up care recommendations, and email the information to patients or
share it with them on a tablet in recovery soon after surgery. It's
those types of educational efforts that can boost patient satisfac-
tion scores, which impact facility reimbursements.
Novatract Surgical
Laparoscopic Dynamic Retractor
The retractor is designed for organ and tissue manipulation through a
5mm port, which is freed up for working instruments once the device is
deployed. The surgeon clips the tissue that needs to be moved, releases
the clip from the device's tip and fires an anchor into the abdominal
wall to act as a fulcrum for retraction. A string attached to a pulley
mechanism lets the surgeon adjust the tension as needed. A company
rep told me the device reduces the need for ports dedicated to retrac-
tion for surgeons attempting single-incision procedures or 2-port lap
choles. It's definitely a neat design, but sometimes the best devices have
the fewest moving parts, so I'd like to see how the retraction works dur-
ing a procedure to truly judge how it performs in practice. OSM
Dr. Renton (
da vid.renton@osumc.edu
) is an assistant professor of surgery
at Ohio State University's Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery in
Columbus, Ohio.
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