A Practical Checklist for Laparoscopy Equipment: Infusion Pumps, Surgical Staplers, and Sourcing Steps People Skip

I coordinate equipment for surgery centers and hospital OR teams. In the last four years, I've handled about 200 urgent requests for replacement pumps, cables, and disposables—some with 36 hours before a scheduled case. This checklist is the one I use when someone asks me to "make sure the room is ready" for laparoscopy.

If you're here because "what is laparoscopy" keeps coming up, here's the short version: laparoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure used in human surgery and increasingly in veterinary surgery. The surgeon works through small incisions with a camera and long instruments. It's not one device. It's a system: camera, insufflator, instrument set, an infusion pump for fluids and meds, and often a surgical stapler.

This checklist isn't a clinical protocol. It's for the person who has to get the equipment to the room and make sure it works.

What This Checklist Is For

Use this when you're setting up a new laparoscopy program, standardizing an existing OR, or replacing a device after a late-night call. I've seen two patterns in hospitals. In the first, there are plenty of devices but no consistency: different pump models, mismatched tubing, chargers that don't fit. In the second, the vendor list is clean but there's no backup for the day the device gets dropped.

The steps below won't solve every problem, but they'll get you past the most common failures.

The Checklist

Five steps, in the order I use them.

1. Confirm the infusion pump's flow range and tubing compatibility

Before anything else, know what the pump is for. In a laparoscopy case, you might need it for sedation, antibiotics, or a continuous infusion. The flow range matters. Some pumps are designed for large-volume fluids, others for syringe-driven critical medications.

If you're using a Smiths Medical infusion pump—the Medfusion line is common in our ICU—check the syringe size and tubing set before opening the sterile packaging. If I remember correctly, the compatibility issues I've seen were almost always from using the wrong extension set, not from a pump malfunction.

2. Check the surgical stapler reloads against the case plan

A surgical stapler is not a one-size-fits-all device. The same handle can require different reloads for tissue thickness, cartridge color, and staple height. If the case plan says a 45mm reload and the cart has a 60mm, that's not a minor detail.

One hospital in our network standardized on a single stapler handle to reduce confusion. It helped, but only because they also standardized the reload list by procedure. The stapler itself wasn't the problem—the missing reload was.

If you're sourcing a surgical stapler for laparoscopy, ask the vendor for a list of compatible reloads and keep that list with the device. (And keep a spare, in case one is dropped.)

3. Identify the Smiths Medical Surgivet monitor before you need it

This one is for veterinary and mixed facilities, but it's worth a spot on any equipment checklist. Smiths Medical Surgivet monitors are anesthesia and vital signs monitors used in veterinary practices. They show up in surgery centers that handle animals, university teaching hospitals, and specialty clinics.

The thing about Surgivet is that the probes, cables, and power adapters are not always interchangeable between models. If someone calls and says "we need a Surgivet cable," don't assume it's the same as the one in the drawer. Look at the model label on the monitor. That label is where you'll see the Smiths Medical logo, which is useful when you're searching for the correct part.

4. Look for the Smiths Medical logo and the exact model on the device, not just the box

This step is the one I wish I'd learned earlier. People call devices by nicknames: "the Smiths pump," "the blue monitor," "the same stapler we used last week." The box might say one thing and the device another. No, wait—the opposite happened to me: the box was for an older generation, and the device inside was a different model with a different charger.

Now I check the physical label. The Smiths Medical logo on the device confirms the brand line, but the model number is the real key. It should match the service manual, the power adapter, and the consumables list. This isn't a paperwork exercise; it's the difference between a working device and a decorative one.

5. Set up a day-of spare and a failover plan

This is the step most people don't think about until the case is in trouble. The checklist isn't done when the equipment is in the room. It's done when you know what you'll do if it stops working.

I use a "red bag" system: one spare infusion pump, one spare stapler reload, and one spare monitor cable, all in a labeled bag in the same storage area. Maybe that sounds like overkill, but I've used it twice this year—once for a pump that wouldn't power on and once for a damaged capnography line.

If a same-day replacement is impossible, at least have a vendor rep number on speed dial. Just say "we need a loaner" and have a known contact. That's more efficient than calling the main line and waiting through the menu.

Common Mistakes and What I Learned the Hard Way

A few things that aren't in the formal steps but should be.

Don't let "get more quotes" slow down an emergency

The conventional wisdom for equipment purchases is to compare three vendors and make them compete. For a routine order, sure. For an urgent replacement, I've found the opposite: the vendor with a real relationship and a service contract gets the device to us faster and at a similar price. The bottom line is that an emergency is not the time to test a new vendor.

I only believed this after skipping the relationship and going with a cheaper quote. The device arrived late, the install was rushed, and the follow-up support was useless. Actually, that's not entirely fair—the follow-up was just slow. But enough to make me change our policy.

If it fits, it might still be the wrong part

It's tempting to think a tubing set is a tubing set. But in infusion pumps, the occlusion pressure limit and the flow accuracy can change with the set. I once watched a perfectly good pump alarm constantly because the team used a gravity set on a pump that required a pumped set. It seemed fine at first because the luer fitting matched. It didn't work.

This is where the Smiths Medical logo and the product number matter. When you're verifying a replacement, compare the part number on the tubing to the pump's compatibility table. Don't rely on the memory of the person who ordered it.

A surgical stapler without a backup is like a defibrillator without a battery

Maybe that's dramatic, but it's close enough. For a surgeon, the stapler handle is a reusable tool, and the reload is the disposable part. If the reload is missing, the handle is useless. Putting a backup reload in the room is a small act that prevents a big delay.

Training beats a longer checklist

Every time I see a recurring equipment problem, it's a training issue, not a device issue. The device was fine. Someone didn't know how to use it or didn't know how to check it. So after you've set up your checklist, spend 20 minutes with the team showing them the label, the compatibility list, and the backup plan.

Bottom Line

Laparoscopy done well depends on a lot of moving parts. The infusion pump, the surgical stapler, the monitor, and the disposables all need to be checked before the patient is in the room.

The phrase "efficiency is a competitive advantage" sounds like corporate talk, but in this context it's real. A streamlined equipment checklist saves money and reduces stress. It also frees you up for the cases that are actually complicated.

If you take one thing from this, look at the device label before you assume anything. The Smiths Medical logo on the nameplate tells you the brand, but the model number and the compatibility list tell you what it can do. Put that on your checklist.