A surgical illumination system (52) comprises an illumination source (58), a generally cylindrical light waveguide (14) having a distal end and a proximal end and a bore sized to accommodate one or more instruments (18) or tools extending from the proximal end through the distal end, the waveguide (14) conducting illumination energy from the proximal end to the distal end and projecting the illumination energy from the distal end, and an illumination conduit (42) for conducting illumination energy (39) from the illumination source (58) to the proximal end of the light waveguide (14).
