Experimental evaluation of the fineness of needle forceps: advantages other than minimal access.

PURPOSE Needle forceps are used to limit damage to the abdominal wall in endoscopic surgery; however, few experimental studies have evaluated the fineness and performance of needle forceps. We conducted this study to identify the advantages of needle forceps over conventional 5 mm forceps, focusing on fine grasping and needle control. METHODS Twenty physicians executed tasks using 5 mm forceps and 2.1 mm small diameter forceps in a laparoscopic experimental setting. First, we timed the execution and recorded the number of drops in a task of grasping and moving grains of rice and red beans. Next, we measured the execution time, looseness of the knot, and the deviation from the stitching point in a suture and ligation task using suture needles with a diameter of 17 or 26 mm. RESULTS The needle forceps required a significantly shorter execution time to move the rice grains (37.7 s vs. 45.8 s; p = 0.01) and a significantly higher completion rate (90% vs 20%; p < 0.01). The deviation of the stitching point using the 17 mm needle with needle forceps was significantly smaller than with the 5 mm forceps (0.5 mm vs. 1.0 mm; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Needle forceps are better for procedures requiring fine grasping and enable more accurate small diameter needle control than 5 mm forceps.