Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Patent
1997-03-20
2000-09-12
Kennedy, Sharon
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
602 52, A61M 532, A61F 1300
Patent
active
061171115
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with a device for sealing off an injury area.
2. Description of the Related Art
From WO93/09 727 it is known to cover injury areas such as for example, fresh or chronic wounds, burns, caustic burns and the like with a water-vapor-permeable airtight foil. This foil is adhered completely around the wound area on the outer surface of the skin, in order to form an air-tight seal of the wound area. By means of a drain provided in the injury area under the foil, an under-pressurization is achieved in the wound area. In particular in large and deep wounds a porous foam insert can be provided in the wound, within which the drain is included, in order to evacuate a large surface area of the injury area and to siphon off the wound secretions.
If in accordance with this known device the drain is provided on the skin outer surface below the foil, so there results in the area of the drain a loss of seal between the skin outer surface and the foil which complicates or prevents the achievement or maintenance of the desired under-pressurization. It is thus the normal practice, that the drain is directed from the injury area through the body tissue and exits through the skin surface outside of the foil. This method is associated with a supplemental injury, which carries with it a risk of infection. Besides this the pulling of the drain tube through the tissue is not possible without anesthetics, so that the process is not very suitable for the ambulatory application and the emergency care.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is concerned with the task, of providing a device for sealing off a wound area, with which a simple and reliable air-tight closing off of the wound area is made possible.
The invention is based upon the idea, of utilizing an easily deformable, non-flowing sealing material, in order to form leak-proof seals in the unsealed areas between the foil covering the wound area and the skin surface. This sealing material, which is preferably a silicone, a hydro-colloid or a lyogel, in particular a hydrogel, is easily deformable by hand and adapts to the unevenness in the skin or also the wrinkles or folds in the foil, such that the sealing material penetrates into any unsealed areas which may be present and closes these off. The deformability and the flowability characteristics of the sealing material are so selected, that an easy deformability and a good penetration in unsealed areas is obtained; however, a flowing out of the sealing material under the influence of the operational pressure gradients is ruled out.
In the case that a vacuum sealing of the wound is undertaken, then the drain used for siphoning off of the skin surface can be directed or channeled out under the foil, whereby the sealing material encloses the drain and the area around the drain between the foil and the skin outer surface and forms an air-tight seal by filling in these interstitial spaces.
In the sealing off of a large surface area of the body surface, such as for burns, for accidents and the like, which in particular is essential for primary emergency care, it is difficult to provide the covering foil upon the bodily outer surface without any folds or wrinkles and therewith flush upon the skin and to achieve adhesion. Here the sealing material offers the possibility, of providing a sealing between the foil and the skin outer surface, even over uneven features of the body outer surface, and in folds or wrinkles of the foil. For this a strip of the sealing material is deposited along the edge or rim of the foil to be used for covering, between the skin outer surface and the foil. In accordance herewith, the foil can in particular also be formed into a tube or a sack-like construction, in order for example to encase or surround an extremity of the patient. The rim of the sack shaped foil to be sealed or, as the case may be, the two rims of the tubular foil to be sealed, can be sealed using an extremity encompassing band shaped strip of the sealing ma
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