Device for Treatment of Venous Congestion

Abstract

A device for treatment of venous congestion provides for subcutaneous introduction of anticoagulant through an incision positioned within a collection shell for withdrawal of an effused material. A widened delivery tip provides dispersal of the anticoagulant and may be agitated to disrupt clot formation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 273,215 filed Oct. 16, 2002, which is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 745,298 filed Dec. 20, 2000 which is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 60 / 171,351 filed Dec. 22, 1999, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT[0002]--BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]The invention relates generally to medical devices to remove excess blood from congested tissue and particularly to a simple mechanical device to replace medicinal leeches.[0004]A potential post-surgical complication of reconstructive or microvascular surgery is venous congestion. Replanted tissue may become congested due to blood clot formation in the venous outflow of the tissue, or in any situation where arterial inflow exceeds venous outflow. Furthermore, venous stasis or poolin...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]It is one object of the invention to provide for improved removal of blood from congested tissue through the combination of subcutaneous delivery of anticoagulant and topical recovery.

[0011]The device may include an air inlet port allowing the introduction of air into the inner volume and down to the skin surface. Thus, it is another object of the invention to both provide a path of air entry to the skin surface. This air flow will create turbulence in the irrigant flowing through the shell at the skin surface, thus creating mechanical anticoagulation at the skin surface and elsewhere within the shell preventing clot formation.

[0013]Thus, it is another object of the invention to provide for semiautomatic operation in which a sensor provides an indication to the operator of successful operation or trigger sequences of agitations and air and liquid flows to provide for efficient blood removal.

Problems solved by technology

A potential post-surgical complication of reconstructive or microvascular surgery is venous congestion.

Furthermore, venous stasis or pooling caused by an arterial supply, which is insufficient for the reconstructed tissue can also occur following microvascular surgery.

Venous congestion, if not corrected by surgery or some other means, can result in tissue death.

The use of leeches can present a number of problems.

For example, leeches can move off congested tissue and feed on normal skin, they are difficult to use in or near orifices of the body because of their potential for migration, the quantity of blood removable by a leech is very limited, and leeches may harbor serious pathogens.

However, prior work has not provided an adequate clinical solution for the post-surgical complication of venous congestion.

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