A Comparative Study Between AirSeal, an Integrated Insufflation System, and Conventional Insufflation

Renal cancer has traditionally been treated by surgical removal of the tumor, as the tumors are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. The traditional treatment, where the entire kidney and tumor were removed through an abdominal incision, may now have more long term problems than the actual cancer. As a result, less invasive techniques have been developed such as laparoscopic surgery where the abdomen is inflated with carbon dioxide (i.e. via an insufflation system) and the surgery performed with special instruments through small ports, known as trocars. Rapid advances in minimally invasive surgical techniques demand ongoing technological improvement. Conventional insufflators and trocars allow for laparoscopic surgery to occur, however the system does not account for pressure changes within the abdomen when instruments are inserted or removed. The AirSeal® System consisting of an insufflation, filtration, and recirculation system (AirSeal® IFS), a triple lumen filtered tube set, and a valve free trocar (AirSeal® Access Port) has been designed to create and maintain the pressure barrier throughout the procedure. The objective of this study is to collect comparative physiological, pulmonary compliance and surgical utility data for both the AirSeal® System and conventional insufflators and trocars in a controlled population undergoing laparoscopic/robotic renal or peri-renal procedures. Subjects enrolled in this study will have their procedure performed using either the AirSeal® System or a conventional insufflator and trocars. Both systems have been cleared for use by the FDA's 510(k) process and are currently employed in clinical practice, including at University of California, Irvine Medical Center. We hypothesize that with the use of the AirSeal® System, laparoscopic efficiencies and outcomes will be significantly greater than with the conventional insufflator and trocars system.