Disposable Energy Sources and Operating Room Time for Laparoscopic Hysterectomy

Over 600,000 hysterectomies are performed each year nationwide. Over 99% of these are accomplished laparoscopically in the investigators current surgical practice to allow women a quicker recovery than a traditional large incision. Disposable laparoscopic devices have been developed to assist in the completion of hysterectomies. These disposable energy sources are only used once, but offer an improved safety and energy profile in that they reliably control bleeding with little damage to surrounding tissue and potentially save time. Reusable energy instruments can be sterilized and reused for multiple cases. Operating room time is expensive. The investigators calculate that if 6.7 minutes of time can be saved using the disposable device, Ligasure (Covidien), versus the reusable Robi bipolar and Storz Laparoscopic Shears, the time savings could justify the cost of the device.