Trocar

A trocar (variant of trochar; from French troquard, an alteration of trois-quarts meaning three-quarters, from trois meaning three + quart meaning quarter; first recorded in the Dictionnaire des Arts et des Sciences, 1694, by Thomas Corneille, younger brother of Pierre Corneille) is a medical device that is made up of an obturator (which may be a metal or plastic sharpened or non-bladed tip), a cannula (basically a hollow tube), and a seal. Trocars are placed through the abdomen during laparoscopic surgery. The trocar functions as a portal for the subsequent placement of other instruments, such as graspers, scissors, staplers, etc.