Figure. 3. Surgical findings of laparoscopic manipulation
In the infrared observation mode, the luminescent gauze with indocyanine green was seen through the back of the tissue (a: normal mode. b: infrared observation mode). It can be seen that the gauze was exposed by switching to the near-infrared mode, even if it was not clear in the normal mode that the layer of the transanal approach was reached (c: normal mode. d: infrared observation mode). The target separation line can be safely reached by cutting the membrane at a site with strong luminescence (e, f). As the fibrous tissue was exfoliated, the fluorescent gauze gradually became see-through (e). When the tissue was further incised with an electric knife at the site where the fluorescence was strong, the gauze was finally exposed to the naked eye (f).
◆: Rectum. ▼: Levator ani muscle. ●: Prostate.