A trocar (or trochar) is a medical or veterinary device traditionally used in draining or venting procedures, now also (informally termed a port) prominent in minimally invasive surgery. Trocars are typically made up of an obturator (which may be metal or plastic, and with a pointed or tapered tip), within a cannula (essentially a rigid tube), and often with a seal. They allow passive evacuation of excess gas or fluid from organs within the body; some also include a valve mechanism to allow for insufflation. Trocars designed for placement through the chest and abdominal walls during thoracoscopic and laparoscopic surgery function as portals for the subsequent insertion of other endoscopic instruments, such as grasper, scissors, stapler, electrocautery, suction tip, etc.
Trocar in the context of Guillaume Duchenne de Boulogne
Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne (de Boulogne) (September 17, 1806, in Boulogne-sur-Mer – September 15, 1875, in Paris) was a French neurologist who revived Luigi Galvani's research and greatly advanced the science of electrophysiology. The era of modern neurology developed from Duchenne's understanding of neural pathways and his diagnostic innovations including deep tissue biopsy, nerve conduction tests (NCS), and clinical photography. This extraordinary range of activities (mostly in the Salpêtrière) was achieved against the background of a troubled personal life and a generally indifferent medical and scientific establishment.
Neurology did not exist in France before Duchenne and although many medical historians regard Jean-Martin Charcot as the father of the discipline, Charcot owed much to Duchenne, often acknowledging him as "mon maître en neurologie" (my master in neurology). The American neurologist Joseph Collins (1866–1950) wrote that Duchenne found neurology "a sprawling infant of unknown parentage which he succored to a lusty youth."His greatest contributions were made in the myopathies that came to immortalize his name, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Duchenne-Aran spinal muscular atrophy, Duchenne-Erb paralysis, Duchenne's disease (Tabes dorsalis), and Duchenne's paralysis (progressive bulbar palsy). He was the first clinician to practise muscle biopsy, with an invention he called "l'emporte-pièce" (Duchenne's trocar). In 1855, he formalized the diagnostic principles of electrophysiology and introduced electrotherapy in a textbook titled De l'electrisation localisée et de son application à la physiologie, à la pathologie et à la thérapeutique. A companion atlas to this work, the Album de photographies pathologiques, was the first neurology text illustrated by photographs. Duchenne's monograph, the Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine – also illustrated prominently by his photographs – was the first study on the physiology of emotion and was highly influential on Darwin's work on human evolution and emotional expression.
View the full Wikipedia page for Guillaume Duchenne de BoulogneTrocar in the context of Cannula
A cannula (/ˈkænjʊlə/ ; Latin meaning 'little reed'; pl.: cannulae or cannulas) is a tube that can be inserted into the body, often for the delivery or removal of fluid or for the gathering of samples. In simple terms, a cannula can surround the inner or outer surfaces of a trocar needle thus extending the effective needle length by at least half the length of the original needle. Its size mainly ranges from 14 to 26 gauge. Like hypodermic needles, different-sized cannulae are often color coded.
Decannulation is the permanent removal of a cannula (extubation), especially of a tracheostomy cannula, once a physician determines it is no longer needed.
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