Varess Needle

Other Known Aliases – None

Definition – 12-15cm long, 2 cannula instrument used for insuflating the abdominal cavity before laparoscopic port placement.  The outer cannula has a beveled needle for dissecting through the abdominal wall.  The spring-loaded inner stylet resides within the outer cannula and has a dull tip to prevent injury to abdominal viscera.  Due to this spring-loaded mechanism, the inner stylet retracts into the outer cannula while it moves through the abdominal planes and advances past the sharp, cutting tip of the outer cannula once through the peritoneum.

Clinical Significance – Using the Varess needle is the oldest and most traditional techniques for obtaining laparoscopic access

History – Named after János Vares (1903-1979), a Hungarian internist, who used iatrogenic pneumothoraces to treat tuberculosis patients.  He created this spring loaded needle in 1932 and published his results in 1936 (in a Hungarian journal), which was subsequently translated and published in German for wider audience in 1938.  Raoul Palmer (1904-1985), a French gynecologist, began using the Varess needle for laparoscopic surgery in 1947.

References

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4. Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms. http://www.whonamedit.com/
5. Vares J. Neues instrument zur ausfuhrung von brust-oder bauchpunktionen und pneumothoraxbehandlung. Deut Med Wochenschr. 1938;64:1480-1481.
6. Palmer R. Instrumentation et technique de la coelioscopie gynécologique. Gynecologie et obstetrique. 1947; 46(4):420-31. [pubmed]