A novel method for monitoring abdominal compliance to optimize insufflation pressure during laparoscopy

BACKGROUND: Abdominal compliance describes the ease of expansion of the abdominal cavity. Several studies highlighted the importance of monitoring abdominal compliance (C(ab)) during the creation of laparoscopic workspace to individualize the insufflation pressure. The lack of validated clinical monitoring tools for abdominal compliance prevents accurate tailoring of insufflation pressure. Oscillometry, also known as the forced oscillation technique (FOT), is currently used to measure respiratory mechanics and has the potential to be adapted for monitoring abdominal compliance. This study aimed to define, develop and evaluate a novel approach which can monitor abdominal compliance during laparoscopy using endoscopic oscillometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Endoscopic oscillometry was evaluated in a porcine model for laparoscopy. A custom-built insufflator was developed for applying an oscillatory pressure signal superimposed onto a mean intra-abdominal pressure. This insufflator was used to measure the abdominal compliance at insufflation pressures ranging from 5 to 20 hPa (3.75 to 15 mmHg). The measurements were compared to the static abdominal compliance, which was measured simultaneously with computed tomography imaging. RESULTS: Endoscopic oscillometry recordings and CT images were obtained in 10 subjects, resulting in 76 measurement pairs for analysis. The measured dynamic C(ab) ranged between 0.0216 and 0.261 L/hPa while the static C(ab) based on the CT imaging ranged between 0.0318 and 0.364 L/hPa. The correlation showed a polynomial relation and the adjusted R-squared was 97.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic oscillometry can be used to monitor changes in abdominal compliance during laparoscopic surgery, which was demonstrated in this study with a comparison with CT imaging in a porcine laparoscopy model. Use of this technology to personalize the insufflation pressure could reduce the risk of applying excessive pressure and limit the drawbacks of insufflation.