A needle for endoscopic surgery is curved into an arc of more than 180.degree. and twisted, so that it forms a part of a spiral, with a lateral offset between the needle point and barrel. The needle is sized to fit through a 10 mm trocar and is also blackened, to improve its visibility in a bloody field. The needle curvature is preferably not constant over its entire length, so that different sections have different radii of curvature. The needle is particularly well adapted for performing laporascopically a procedure (Burch Colposuspension) that is used to treat female stress incontinence.