Accessory to syringes

Details Accessory to syringes Accessory to syringes

1997-08-27

2000-01-25

Coggins, Wynn Wood

Surgery

Means for introducing or removing material from body for...

Treating material introduced into or removed from body...

128DIG26, A61M 5178

Patent

active

060173270

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a method and accessory for the contamination-free keeping of stoppers used in medical care. The fitting comprises a stopper or carrier which is temporarily placed upon syringes or other equipment to prevent entry of contamination while awaiting use of the syringe.


BACK GROUND ART

The medical care needs often to establish connection to the patient's hypodermic tissues via syringes, tubes or containers of different kinds. The connection must be established with total sterility. Leakage and unwanted contact must be avoided as far as possible. Such unintended contact, especially with blood and blood vessels, may involve a very serious risk of infection.
Examples of treatments requiring blood vessel connection are blood transfusion inclusive blood giving, blood sampling assisted by test containers under negative pressure, and intravenous supply of medicine, nourishment or just liquid for blood volume expansion, commonly called a drip.
A frequently used syringe for insertion in blood vessels of different kinds has a tube body with a channel that continues in a thin and soft plastic tube. The rear port of the tube body is shaped as a conical cavity and, at the beginning, closed by a hollow needle and a needle body, the rear part of which has a transparent signal chamber, which gets filled with blood, when satisfactory blood vessel contact has been established. The rear wall of the signal chamber is liquid-tight and prevents blood shedding through the rear opening of the needle body. This opening is used for temporary placement of a stopper intended for tightening the rear port of the tube body, when the needle has been withdrawn.
To establish a blood vessel connection one choses a suitable, superficial blood vessel (vein or artery depending upon type of treatment) and tries to direct the tip of the puncture needle to penetrate the skin just over the chosen blood vessel, so that the tip hits the vessel centrally and, after penetration of the vessel wall, with the plastic tube can be directed into the blood path. When the above mentioned transparent room behind the needle starts filling with blood, the syringe is advanced a little (about 2 mm) to ensure complete penetration of the vessel wall. Then the needle body with the belonging puncture needle is kept still, while the tube is advanced so that the needle tip no longer is in front of the end of the plastic tube. This is done to prevent the needle tip from hurting the vessel wall. Finally the syringe is advanced to its desired position and kept there.
After that the puncture-needle is withdrawn. To prevent blood shedding through the rear opening of the tube body, which has been tightened by the needle body, the withdrawal is begun by the operator by compressing, with one of his or her hands, the skin area over the tip of the plastic tube, until he or she has withdrawn the puncture needle and applied the intended stopper in the rear end of the tube body.
This is a critical moment concerning leakage. As seen above the operator has just one hand free (usually the right hand). The other hand is used for tissue compressing. With the free hand the operator has to loosen the stopper from the needle body and, without contaminating the stopper, move it to the rear end of the tube body. The needle body may have to be let free for grip changing before the stopper can be removed. The operation is not simple even under good circumstances in a ward unit. If it instead has to be done in a forth-rushing ambulance by personnel with little syringe handling education, the difficulties become even worse.
The risk is large that the needle body rolls away. The risk is also large that the stopper is dropped and lost and/or becomes contaminated before getting placed in the rear port of the tube body. In both cases the operator needs help, if not the whole operation should have to be repeated with a new sterile syringe.
Trials have been made earlier (The Swedish laid open publication no 355 946) to place the tube body stopper at one of the tub

REFERENCES:
patent: 3802433 (1974-04-01), Raven
patent: 5057093 (1991-10-01), Clegg et al.
patent: 5098405 (1992-03-01), Peterson et al.
patent: 5098410 (1992-03-01), Kerby et al.
patent: 5203771 (1993-04-01), Melker et al.
patent: 5250038 (1993-10-01), Melker et al.
patent: 5263944 (1993-11-01), Vidal et al.
patent: 5389100 (1995-02-01), Bacich et al.

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