Mitigating Laparoscopic Gas Leaks: A Clinical Trial with Optical Imaging and a Novel Vacuum-Ring Device

In a clinical trial, researchers utilized optical gas imaging to detect laparoscopic gas leaks during surgeries and tested a vacuum-ring device’s effectiveness in mitigating leaks. Among 1643 trocar instrumentations, leaks occurred in 62.6% of visualized instances. The intervention group, using the vacuum-ring device, showed a significant reduction in high-energy leaks (Class 3) compared to the control group. The study demonstrates that available technology, including optical imaging and the vacuum-ring device, can sensitively detect and effectively mitigate laparoscopic gas leaks.