A new scope warmer/cleaner for laparoscopic surgery: a disposable hot pack

Fogging and staining of a laparoscope lens negatively impact surgical visualization. We hypothesized that the disposable hot pack could not only warm but also clean laparoscopes. Hence, this study verified and developed the disposable hot pack with anti-fogging and cleaning function. The laparoscope was inserted into a swine abdominal cavity for five minutes. Then, the laparoscopic tip was heated with 65 °C saline or the folded disposable hot pack with nonwoven fabric coated surfactant for ten seconds (<i>n</i> = 15). Also, a laparoscopic tip with dirt was wiped with the prototype or conventional gauze for 10 s (<i>n</i> = 10). The dirt, fogging, and temperature of the laparoscopic tip were respectively evaluated after the laparoscope was inserted into the abdominal cavity. The laparoscopic tip temperature five minutes after insertion into the abdominal cavity was similar (31.1 °C vs 31.2 °C, <i>p</i> = 0.748) and there was no fogging in both methods. The conventional gauze had significantly less temperature of the laparoscopic tip after cleaning and higher fogging occurrence than the prototype (29.5 °C vs 34.0 °C, <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001, 30% vs 0%, <i>p</i> = 0.030, respectively), although there was no dirt left after both methods. The disposable hot pack has a strong potential as an anti-fogging and cleaning device for use during laparoscopic surgery.

腹腔镜（laparoscope）镜头起雾与沾染污渍会对手术视野造成负面影响。本研究假设一次性热敷包不仅可实现加温功能，还可清洁该镜头。因此，本研究验证并开发了兼具防雾与清洁功能的一次性热敷包。将腹腔镜置入猪腹腔并静置5分钟后，分别以65℃生理盐水，或涂布表面活性剂的无纺布折叠式一次性热敷包，对腹腔镜镜头端部加热10秒（n=15）。此外，针对带有污渍的腹腔镜镜头端部，分别使用本研究开发的原型产品与常规纱布擦拭10秒（n=10）。在腹腔镜置入腹腔后，分别对镜头端部的污渍残留情况、起雾状态与温度进行评估。结果显示：腹腔镜置入腹腔5分钟后的镜头温度相近（31.1℃ vs 31.2℃，p=0.748），两种加热方式均未出现起雾现象。尽管两种擦拭方式均未残留污渍，但常规纱布擦拭后的镜头端部温度显著低于原型产品（29.5℃ vs 34.0℃，p<0.001），且起雾发生率更高（30% vs 0%，p=0.030）。本研究开发的一次性热敷包具备作为腹腔镜手术中防雾与清洁装置的巨大应用潜力。