Abstract: A surgical tissue retrieval instrument has a collapsible pouch at the distal end of an elongated support tube for retrieving internal body tissue through a trocar tube. The instrument includes a belt which is formed into a loop slidably attached about the open end of the pouch. The belt is slidably extendable through the support tube for expanding the open end of the pouch to receive the tissue and retractable into the support tube for drawing the open end of the pouch closed to enclose the tissue in the pouch. The belt has an oblong, e.g., rectangular, cross section oriented with its larger cross-sectional dimension perpendicular to the plane of the loop to provide stability at the open end of the pouch and to enable use of the pouch in a scoop-like manner to place the tissue therein. A portion of the belt is thermally set into a curved configuration to urge the loop into a normally expanded shape with the belt extended from the distal end of the support tube.