Catheter retention device and method

Claim 1

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a flexible planar barrier pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to a patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening therethrough and a narrow entry slit with generally parallel, closely-positioned, opposing edges leading to said opening from the periphery of said pad; and a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad and clamping means spaced above said opening for holding a portion of a catheter in generally coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said pad and base being deformable to permit the edges of said pad defining said slit to be separated sufficiently to allow a catheter to be advanced laterally through said slit into said opening and thereafter brought together into sealing engagement with each other just prior to adhesive attachment of said pad to a patient's skin; said pad including deformable upper and lower layers; said lower layer being formed of a resilient, pliable, skin barrier material having pressure-sensitive adhesive properties; said lower layer providing adhesive surfaces along the opposing edges of said slit for securing said slit in sealed condition when said edges are urged together; said base including a pair of base sections secured to said pad on opposite sides of said opening and on opposite sides of a projection of the longitudinal midline of said slit; said base sections being movable away from and towards each other as the edges of said pad defining said slit are spread apart and urged together, respectively; said catheter support structure also including a pair of flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base sections; and said clamping means including a pair of mutually engageable clamping members at the upper ends of said arms.

Claim 2

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a flexible planar barrier pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to a patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening therethrough and a narrow entry slit with generally parallel, closely-positioned, opposing edges leading to said opening from the periphery of said pad; and a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad and clamping means spaced above said opening for holding a portion of a catheter in generally coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said pad and base being deformable to permit the edges of said pad defining said slit to be separated sufficiently to allow a catheter to be advanced laterally through said slit into said opening and thereafter brought together into sealing engagement with each other just prior to adhesive attachment of said pad to a patient's skin; said pad including deformable upper and lower layers; said lower layer being formed of a resilient, pliable, skin barrier material having pressure-sensitive adhesive properties; said lower layer providing adhesive surfaces along the opposing edges of said slit for securing said slit in sealed condition when said edges are urged together; said base including a pair of base sections secured to said pad on opposite sides of said opening and on opposite sides of a projection of the longitudinal midline of said slit; said base sections being movable away from and towards each other as the edges of said pad defining said slit are spread apart and urged together, respectively; said catheter support structure also including a pair of flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base sections; and said clamping means including a pair of mutually engageable clamping members at the upper ends of said arms.

Claim 6

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a flexible planar barrier pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to a patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening therethrough and an entry slit leading to said opening from the periphery of said pad; and a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad and clamping means spaced above said opening for holding a portion of a catheter in generally coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said pad and base being deformable to permit the edges of said pad defining said slit to be separated sufficiently to allow a catheter to be advanced laterally through said slit into said opening and thereafter brought together into sealing engagement with each other just prior to adhesive attachment of said pad to a patient's skin; said catheter support structure also including a pair of spaced flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said openings; said clamping means being provided at the upper ends of said arms and comprising a pair of elongated clamping bars joined at intermediate points along their lengths to the upper ends of said support arms; said bars being disposed alongside each other substantially above said opening of said pad and having intermediate portions with opposing recesses defining an aperture for receiving and holding a portion of a catheter in general coaxial relation with respect to said opening; and connecting means for connecting said bars to each other at their opposite ends.

Claim 7

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a flexible planar barrier pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to a patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening therethrough and an entry slit leading to said opening from the periphery of said pad; and a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad and clamping means spaced above said opening for holding a portion of a catheter in generally coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said pad and base being deformable to permit the edges of said pad defining said slit to be separated sufficiently to allow a catheter to be advanced laterally through said slit into said opening and thereafter brought together into sealing engagement with each other just prior to adhesive attachment of said pad to a patient's skin; said catheter support structure also including a pair of spaced flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said openings; said clamping means being provided at the upper ends of said arms and comprising a pair of elongated clamping bars joined at intermediate points along their lengths to the upper ends of said support arms; said bars being disposed alongside each other substantially above said opening of said pad and having intermediate portions with opposing recesses defining an aperture for receiving and holding a portion of a catheter in general coaxial relation with respect to said opening; and connecting means for connecting said bars to each other at their opposite ends.

Claim 8

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a planar pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to the patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening extending therethrough; a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad, a pair of spaced flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said opening, and a pair of elongated clamping bars joined at intermediate points along their lengths to the upper ends of said flexible support arms; said bars being disposed alongside each other substantially above said opening of said pad; and connecting means for connecting said clamping bars to each other at their opposite ends; said bars having intermediate portions with opposing recesses defining an aperture for receiving and holding a portion of a catheter in general coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said connecting means including selectively engagable latching means located at least at one of the ends of said clamping bars for facilitating insertion and removal of a catheter into and out of said aperture.

Claim 9

A device for retaining a catheter in place at its point of entry into a patient's body, comprising a planar pad with an adhesive underside for attachment to the patient's skin; said pad having a generally central opening extending therethrough; a catheter support structure including a base secured to said pad, a pair of spaced flexible support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said opening, and a pair of elongated clamping bars joined at intermediate points along their lengths to the upper ends of said flexible support arms; said bars being disposed alongside each other substantially above said opening of said pad; and connecting means for connecting said clamping bars to each other at their opposite ends; said bars having intermediate portions with opposing recesses defining an aperture for receiving and holding a portion of a catheter in general coaxial relation with respect to said opening; said connecting means including selectively engagable latching means located at least at one of the ends of said clamping bars for facilitating insertion and removal of a catheter into and out of said aperture.

Claim 23

A method of making a catheter retention device having a pair of flexible plastic clamping bars that are joined together at one end, extend along generally parallel planes, and are provided with latching means at their opposite ends, comprising the steps of molding in one piece a support structure having an arcuate planar base defining an opening, a pair of flexible integral support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said opening, and a pair of spaced-apart clamping bars formed integrally with said arms at the upper ends thereof, said bars being elongated, generally parallel with said base, and each provided at a first end thereof with latching means; next urging said elongated bars together into contiguous parallel relation but with their axes askew so that second ends of said bars are in direct alignment but said first ends are disaligned with the latching means thereof in disengaged condition; then permanently securing said second ends of said bars together while they are disposed in contiguous relation with their axes askew.

Claim 24

A method of making a catheter retention device having a pair of flexible plastic clamping bars that are joined together at one end, extend along generally parallel planes, and are provided with latching means at their opposite ends, comprising the steps of molding in one piece a support structure having an arcuate planar base defining an opening, a pair of flexible integral support arms projecting upwardly from said base at opposite sides of said opening, and a pair of spaced-apart clamping bars formed integrally with said arms at the upper ends thereof, said bars being elongated, generally parallel with said base, and each provided at a first end thereof with latching means; next urging said elongated bars together into contiguous parallel relation but with their axes askew so that second ends of said bars are in direct alignment but said first ends are disaligned with the latching means thereof in disengaged condition; then permanently securing said second ends of said bars together while they are disposed in contiguous relation with their axes askew.