Evaluation of the Ability to Detect Bowel Gas During Laparoscopic Surgery
Evaluation of the Ability to Detect Bowel Gas During Laparoscopic Surgery
This study will determine the ability of the device to draw a small amount of gas from an
 insufflated abdomen during laparoscopic surgery and accurately detect if gaseous content from
 the bowel is present.
Undetected bowel perforation is a rare but dangerous complication of laparoscopic surgery. If
 the injury is not detected and treated at the time of the surgical procedure, the patient can
 suffer sever complications including septic shock and eventually death. Our goal is to test a
 novel device that can detect bowel gas leakage from a perforation and alert the surgeon
 during the operation by evaluating the gases present in the insufflated abdomen during
 surgery. During laparoscopic surgery, carbon dioxide in inserted in the abdominal cavity in
 order to perform the operation. This is dynamic process as insufflation is a constant during
 the entire procedure to maintain a constant pressure and compensate small leaks due to the
 insertion and retrieval of instruments.

 This study will determine the ability of device to be attached to a standard Veress needle or
 trocar during the operation and periodically draw a small amount of gas from the abdomen to
 evaluate the gas and accurately detect gaseous content from the bowel. Before the device can
 be used to detect bowel perforations, first we must ensure that it can accurately detect
 bowel gas in an insufflated abdomen.
Inclusion Criteria:

 1. Age 18 - 60 years old with the diagnosis of morbid obesity, who qualifies for
 laparoscopic gastric bypass surgical therapy, and has elected to undergo laparoscopic
 gastric bypass surgery.

 2. Receiving care in the Stanford Hospital General Surgery Bariatric Surgery Clinic under
 the care of Dr. Dan Azagury

 3. The patient is scheduled for laparoscopic roux en y gastric bypass surgery, with Dr.
 Azagury.

 4. Willing and cognitively able to sign informed consent.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 1. Lack of or inability to provide informed consent.

 2. Less than 18 years of age or greater than 60 years of age

 3. Planned deviation from the standard laparoscopic gastric bypass operation

 4. Conversion intra-operatively from a laparoscopic gastric bypass to an alternative
 laparoscopic surgical operation or to an open gastric bypass operation.

 5. Enrollment in another device or drug study that may confound results.