US3513849A - Irrigation adapter for closed urinary drainage system - Google Patents

Description

y 26, 1970 v. VAILLANCOURT E'IAL 3,513,849

IRRIGATION ADAPTER FOR CLOSED URINARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM Filed May 14, 1968 INVENTORS BY W ildi VINE ATTO NEYS United States Patent 3,513,849 IRRIGATION ADAPTER FOR CLOSED URINARY DRAINAGE SYSTEM Vincent L. Vaillancourt, Livingston, and George A. Walck III, Somerville, N.J., assignors to C. R. Bard In-c., Murray Hill, N.J., a corporation of New York Filed May 14, 1968, Ser. No. 728,979 Int. Cl. A61m 27/00 U.S. Cl. 128-349 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An adapter for interposition between a catheter and a drainage tube, formed with a closable opening in axial alinement with the inlet end of the adapter and an offset opening to receive the end of the drainage tube, the closable opening being designed to receive the tip of a syringe, for irrigation or the like, and means being provided for sealingly engaging the syringe tip to prevent leakage.

This invention relates to an adapter to be installed in a closed urinary drainage system which provides for intermittent irrigation and aspiration, whenever desired, without disconnecting any of the elements providing the drainage path, the adapter being designed to permit aspiration with a syring directly into the catheter with no pressure loss due to change in direction of the fluid being used to aspirate, in contrast to the operation of known systems where the irrigation liquid is supplied through a side arm or Y-connector with a substantial change in direction of flow. The present adapter is also designed so that the syringe tip seals 01f the drainage path and also forms a new, straight irrigation path as close as possible to the funnel of the catheter.

A practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents an elevation of a closed urinary drainage system, including the irrigation adapter, parts being broken away;

FIG. 2 represents an axial section through the adapter with an irrigation syringe inserted, parts being in section and parts being broken away, and

FIG. 3 represents a detail section showing the irrigation inlet closed by its combined cap and plug.

The closed drainage system of FIG. 1 comprises a Foley retention catheter 1 having a balloon inflation funnel 2 with valve 3 and drainage funnel 4, the special adapter 5, drainage tube 6 and a receptacle indicated conventionally at 7.

The adapter has a normally tapered end 8 for engagement in the funnel 4 of the catheter, and is provided with an integrally molded side arm 9 connected to the main body 10 by a bridge 11. Within the end 8 the bore 12 of the adapter is of uniform cross section, while the interior '13 of the body 10 is slightly larger and tapers toward an internal shoulder 14 at the base of the end 8. The drainage path is constituted by the bore 12, the adjoining portion of the body interior 13, a connecting passage 15 in the bridge 11 and the bore 16 in the side arm 9 which is designed to receive the end of the drainage tube 6 in the manner of a normal adapter.

The interior 13 of the body is coaxial with the bore 8 and is open at its end opposite the shoulder 14, the open end being closable by a combined seal, cap and plug 17, preferably of a rubber-like material. This latter includes a cylindrical portion 18 adapted to engage securely around the open end of the body 10, an annular flange 19 which occludes slightly the periphery of the opening, a connecting strip 20, and a cap-plug 21, the cap portion 22 being designed to fit snugly around the cylindrical 3,513,849 Patented May 26, 1970 portion 18 and over the flange 19, while the plug 23 is proportioned to fill the greater part of the body interior 13 between the passage '15 and the open end, for a purpose described below, all as shown in detail in FIG. 3.

With the cap-plug in place the system operates in a normal manner, liquid draining through the catheter, the bore 12, the body interior 13, passage 15 and bore 16, to the drainage tube 6. The volume and rate of flow of urinary drainage are such that the angularity of the path is immaterial and the orientation of the adapter about the axis of the end 8 and body 10 is not critical; gravity alone tends to turn the adapter to lie flat on its side so that the drainage path would usually not have an up-hill portion.

When interruption of the drainage, for irrigation or medication, is indicated, the cap-plug 21 is removed and the tapering tip T of the syringe S is inserted. Such syringe tips are of several basic types, varying somewhat in length, diameter and/or taper, and the present adapted is so proportioned that the sides of the tips of the most widely used syringes will seal tightly against the edge of the shoulder 14 and also against the annular flange 19. The end of the syringe tip extends slightly beyond the shoulder 14 into the bore 12, the lumen of the tip being coaxial with said bore so that the liquid from the syringe flows directly, in a straight line, into the catheter (and thence into the patient) with minimum resistance. The seals formed by the syringe tip at 14 and 19, each side of the passage 15 eliminate the possibility of back flow or leakage from the drainage tube, and the irrigation liquid likewise cannot escape or be spilled.

The element 24 shown on the end of the side arm opposite the drainage tube represents a filtered vent of any suitable type, the provision of which is optional butv desirable, for bleeding air into the drainage system near its highest point and thus eliminating negative pressure in the catheter.

The closed drainage system is shown as including a Foley catheter, but the irrigation adapted could prove equally useful in systems employing other types of catheters Pezzer, Malecot, etc.) where intermittent drainage and irrigation is anticipated.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and hence We do not intend to be limited to the details shown or described herein except as the same are included in the claims or may be required by disclosures of the prior art.

What we claim is:

1. An adapter for a use in a closed urinary drainage system comprising a main body having a bore extending therethrough for straight line passage of liquid, one end of said body being designed for engagement with the drainage funnel of a catheter or the like and the other end of said body being provided with an openable closure element, a side arm having a bore therein, said bore being designed for engagement with an end of a drainage tube, and a bridge connecting said main body and said side arm, the bridge being traversed by a passage connecting the bore of the side arm with the bore in the main body at a point intermediate the ends of the latter.

2. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the main body, the side arm and the bridge are integral.

3. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the closure element includes a removable plug and a radially inwardly projecting annular flange of resilient material.

4. An adapter according to claim 3 in which the plug is of a size to fill at least a major portion of the bore in the main body between the annular flange and the point of connection of the passage in the bridge with the bore in the main body.

5. An adapter according to claim 1 in which the bore in the main body is formed with an annular shoulder between the first named end of said body and the point of connection of the passage in the bridge with said main body bore.

6. An adapter according to claim 5 in which the annular shoulder has a smaller interior diameter than any part of the bore in the main body between said shoulder and said other end of the main body.

7. An adapter according to claim 5 in which the closure element includes a radially inwardly projecting annular flange of resilient material, and in which said flange and said shoulder are so proportioned that both will sealingly engage the sides of a syringe tip inserted in the bore of the main body past said flange and said shoulder.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,087,492 4/1963 Garth 128350 3,409,015 11/1968 Swanson 128349 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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