Surgical instrument guide with insufflation channels

Abstract

A cannula and instrument guide assembly includes a cannula with a proximal portion and a tube. An instrument guide is removably inserted into the proximal portion of the cannula and extends through the cannula to a distal end of the tube. The proximal portion of the cannula has an insufflation port. The instrument guide provides at least one interior passageway to support a shaft of a surgical instrument that passes through the instrument guide. One or more channels on an outer surface of the instrument guide provide a passage for insufflation gas received from the insufflation port to the distal end of the tube. The one or more channels have a first cross-sectional area at a proximal end and a second, larger cross-sectional area at a distal end. The one or more channels may have the first cross-sectional area along a majority of the length of the channels.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.