Surgical fluid management system with a dampening chamber

摘要

An apparatus for controlling the volume of surgical fluid present in a cavity(12) of the body during surgery includes a fluid pump (32) for pumping surgical fluid to the cavity via a conduit. A dampener (34) is disposed between the pump and the cavity, with the dampener receiving the fluid output of the pump and having a pressure sensitive volumetric capacity therefor such that variations in output volume of the pump are diminished by the dampener, the output of which is directed to the cavity. The dampener may be in the form of a hollow chamber into which surgical fluid flows trapping a selected quantity of gas thereabove with the gas quantity being determined by a vent valve. A hydrophobic filter or a float valve may be employed as the vent valve.