Surgery – Instruments – Sutureless closure
Patent
1997-05-22
1998-09-29
Buiz, Michael
Surgery
Instruments
Sutureless closure
606 54, 606 57, 606 59, 606216, 606217, 606218, 606205, 606206, A61B 1708
Patent
active
058140670
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a skin pinching device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Skin pinching devices of this type are used to draw together the skin along the wound edges of a large surface area wound. The drawing together of the edges of the wound can be accomplished within a short time of approximately 15 to 30 minutes, in order that the wound may be sutured (U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,680). Herein the skin is stretched in the area of the edges of the wound by taking advantage of the visco-elastic properties thereof. If however the wound edges are drawn together over a period of several days or weeks, then the wound can be closed with formation of new tissue, without requiring that the skin be stretched to is visco-elastic point.
From U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,971 a skin pinching device of the type discussed above is known. This skin pinching device includes two jaws with respectively two hooks each, which are inserted into the skin and are anchored in the skin via a transverse needle which can be stuck into the skin. The jaws are respectively seated upon a transverse track or rail. The transverse rails run parallel to each other and are capable of being adjusted with respect to their parallel spacing, so that the jaws can be moved toward each other, in order that the edges of the wound, in which the jaws are anchored via the hooks, are drawn together. For the parallel displacement of the transverse rails these are on the one hand slidingly guided upon a guide rail and are engaged on the other hand by a threaded spindle which runs parallel to the guide rail, by means of which an adjustment movement can be effectuated.
In this known skin pinching device the jaws are rigidly set to run at right angles with respect to the direction of adjustment. The needles which anchor the hooks in the skin must thus be inserted or seated exactly perpendicularly to the direction of contraction or displacement of the skin, in order to avoid uneven drawing tensions on the skin. An adaptation of the jaws and their anchoring in the skin to the contour of the wound edges is not possible. Besides this, the skin pinching device is a complex and expensive instrument, which is difficult to cleanse and sterilize.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is concerned with the objective, of overcoming these disadvantages and of providing a skin pinching device which is more advantageous in its method of employment.
In the skin pinching device according to the invention, the hooks, which serve to anchor the jaws in the skin, are provided on a part, which is releasably and removably associated with the jaw. The hooks, which are stuck into the skin of the patient and which require a high degree of sterility, can in this manner be provided as single-use parts, which are respectively disposed of after use. The remaining complex and expensive skin pinching device can be cleansed, disinfected and reused repeatedly. Preferably the hooks are anchored in an injection mounded plastic part, so that the single use parts are produced in an exceptionally economical manner. The changing out and disposal of the parts with the hooks after use has the further advantage, that the danger of an injury and infection to the personnel during cleaning, disinfecting and storage of the skin pinching device due to the extremely sharp and pointed hooks is precluded.
The provision of the hooks in separate parts associated with the jaws of the skin pinching device has the further advantage, that the hooks can be stuck into the skin of the patient separately from the skin pinching device. The difficulty of sticking the hooks into the skin because of the pliability of the soft skin is thereby substantially overcome. After the sticking in of the hooks the parts with the hooks are secured to the jaws. The securing can be accomplished, for example, by means of a dove tail joint. Other securing possibilities are obvious to the person working in this art.
The plastic part with the hooks can be a strip or bar which extends along
REFERENCES:
patent: 2450194 (1948-09-01), Glaser
patent: 5263971 (1993-11-01), Hirschowitz et al.
Buiz Michael
Pendorf, P.A. Stephan A.
Shai Daphna
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