| Culdoscope | |
|---|---|
| Purpose | visualize female pelvic organs |
Culdoscope is an instrument, a kind of endoscope, used to visualize female pelvic organs, introduced through the vagina into the cul-de-sac (which is also called the rectouterine pouch or the pouch of Douglas).[1][2][3] The procedure of inserting the culdoscope into the rectouterine pouch is termed culdoscopy.[2]
The word culdoscope (and culdoscopy) is derived from the phrase cul-de-sac, which in French literally means "bottom of a sac", here referring to a blind pouch or cavity in the female body that is closed at one end, that is the rectouterine pouch. As early as the 13th century, a cul-de-sac was a dead-end street (or a dead-end way), a blind alley.[2]