New device could eliminate some blind uterine surgeries; not yet marketed in U.S.(Gynecology)

MONTREAL -- A new device that's not yet on the market in the United States could eliminate the need for some blind uterine procedures, according to Dr. Steven Goldstein.

Transvaginal ultrasound assisted gynecology surgery (TUACS) has the same imaging advantage as transabdominal ultrasound, but a second person isn't needed to hold the scanner, said Dr. Steven Goldstein, who is professor of ob.gyn. and the director of gynecologic ultrasound at New York University, New York.

"This is the first description of a device that allows simultaneous transvaginal imaging with uterine surgery. Such continuous visualization can shorten operating times and increase safety, although further studies will be necessary," Dr. Goldstein said during a meeting sponsored by the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.

"I can foresee a time when every operating room will have a small ultrasound machine, and any D&C procedure will have ultrasound guidance," Dr. Goldstein, who is testing the device, said in an interview.

A special vaginal speculum, designed to accommodate both the transvaginal imaging apparatus and the surgical tools, is used in TUAGS.

"At first I wondered if there would be enough room to fit all this equipment in, but there is, and it works well," he said at the meeting, which was also sponsored by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

A special tenaculum with the ratchet and handle at 90 degrees to its usual location is applied to the cervix in the routine fashion. An adaptor surrounds the vaginal transducer and is snapped securely in place. It then mates the vaginal probe in a long axis projection.