FlexDex™ Needle Holder Used to Perform a Diaphragm Plication

This is a video demonstrating the use of the FlexDex™ needle holder to perform a left video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) diaphragm plication (1). The FlexDex™ needle holder is a new device that allows the wristed flexibility of robotic surgery with the by-the-bedside "surgeon-powered" convenience of VATS. The author uses it for the first time in the UK for a diaphragm plication, where a line of horizontal mattress sutures was needed to plicate the diaphragm in a patient with idiopathic phrenic nerve paralysis.

Reference

1. Celik S, Celik M, Aydemir B, Tunckaya C, Okay T, Dogusoy I. Long-term results of diaphragmatic plication in adults with unilateral diaphragm paralysis. J Cardiothorac Surg. 2010;5:111.