Improvised ‘suture passer’: an easy and cost-effective tool for transcorporeal suturing

Traditional ‘suture passers’ may be difficult to manoeuvre at some intra-abdominal locations due to their weight and rigidity. We describe an improvised suture passer, made of a 16G intravenous cannula needle with a loop of polypropylene thread passed through it (Figure 1).¹ This featherweight tool can bring out thread from any corner of the abdomen through a needle prick only. After piercing through the peritoneal cavity, a gentle upward pull on the needle opens up the polypropylene loop for holding the thread. The accompanying video demonstrates the technique.

Figure 1.

Improvised suture passer.

Download video file ^{(8MB, mp4)}