This invention relates to dilation systems and apparatus used in performing minimal invasive surgery and particularly in an application of the instrument in initiating the surgery where dilators are utilized to enlarge the area where the surgery will be performed on a patient.
As is well known by those skilled in this technology minimally invasive approaches for performing spinal surgery such as laminotomy, medial facetectomy, foraminotomy, nerve root retraction, discectomy and the like, require an initial cut into the skin and tissue of the patient before a series of increasingly larger diameter dilators are inserted to widen the area where the surgery will be performed. As is well known and as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,179 granted on Dec. 12, 2000 to the inventor of this patent application and entitled “Cannula and Sizing and Insertion Method”, a guide wire with a sharpened tip to purcutaneously pass through the muscle and engage a target of bone or vertebral disc is typically used. The first dilator is then passed over the guide wire and down to the target. Unfortunately, this method is fraught with a potential danger to the patient. Because the guide wire is relatively thin where it is able to pass through the muscle and ligamentous anatomy, it can protrude into the spinal canal and hence, cause injury to the delicate neural anatomy. If the misplaced guide wire is not detected before the dilators are inserted, catastrophic injury, such as permanent disablement of the patient can occur. Obviously, since this is a potential problem as it is considered a risk to a candidate needing minimally invasive surgery, the use of this type of surgery has been stifled and its potential to grow which ultimately is for the benefit of all patients requiring this type of surgery is thwarted. Of course, the surgical target does not involve the neural anatomy in every spinal surgery and hence, in these situations the use of a guide wire is not a potential hazard and can be safely used.
The present invention obviates the problems noted in the above-paragraphs particularly in minimally invasive spinal surgery where it is necessary to access and decompress the spinal nerves and where safety is of a major concern. This invention utilizes a series of muscle dilators in which the first dilator is solid with a design that permits accurate passage through the muscle tissue without the assistance and risk of a pre-placed guide wire. The tip of this inventive dilator is judiciously designed to part and pass through the muscle fibers and allows the surgeon to maintain a course directed toward the intended anatomical target. Because of the inventive dilator when the muscle is passed in the insertion procedure the likelihood for the surgeon forcing the inventive dilator through the ligamentum flavum and continue to pass into the spinal canal is avoided. My invention contemplates dimensioning the non cannulated dilator such that the surgeon when performing the procedure will get a “feel” as the instrument passes through the tissue and muscle of the patient so that the surgeon will have a good sense of what portion of the anatomy is being penetrated. This will help in assisting the surgeon in avoiding the spinal canal.
This invention relates to an improvement in the instrument utilized in minimal invasive surgery of the type that utilize dilators.
A feature of this invention is a non-cannulated dilator that is made from a solid elongated body having a tip portion at the distal end and a tool engaging portion at the proximal end. The outed diameter dimension of the non-cannulated dilator is critical in that the diameter is sufficiently large so that the instrument is stiff and rigid and greater than one (11/2) mm and that the tip is discreetly blunted or rounded.
The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.
These figures merely serve to further clarify and illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope thereof.
While this invention in its preferred embodiment discloses ovoid shaped dilators, it is to be understood as those skilled in this art will appreciate, any shaped dilators and cannulas can be utilized with this invention. However, the initial dilator is non-cannulated, i.e. it is a solid elongated cylindrical body with a judiciously shaped pointed tip at the distal end and a tool receiving tip at the proximal end. Obviously, it is not imperative that the non cannulated dilator be cylindrical or circular in cross section as ovoid or other cross sectional shapes can be substituted therefor without departing from the scope of this invention. The term “cavity” as used herein refers to the opening in the patient formed by the non cannulated dilator, dilators and dilator retractor and becomes a working channel when the non cannula dilator and dilators are removed from the dilator retractor for the surgeon to use to perform the minimal invasive surgery the terms “cannula” and “dilator retractor” as used herein have the same meaning and are used interchangeably.
The invention can best be seen by referring to all the Figs where the inventive non-cannulated dilator is generally illustrated by reference numeral 10 consisting of a cylindrical solid elongated body 12, a tool receiving portion 14 at the proximal end, and the pointed parting tip portion 16 at the distal end. In accordance with this invention the diameter of the cylindrical solid elongated body 12 is greater than one and a half (11/2) mm and preferably substantially equal to five (5) mm. The very end of the tip portion 16 is rounded and defines a blunt portion 20 as opposed to a needle type shape that would be found, for example, on the heretofore utilized guide wire. The preferred dimensions are shown in
While these dimensions are disclosed in the preferred embodiment as being preferred, as one skilled in this art will recognize that these dimensions can be slightly modified without departing from the scope of this invention. However, it is abundantly important that the very tip 16 of the blunt portion 20 be blunted and the diameter of the cylindrical body 12 be sufficiently large so that the tissue and muscle of the area being penetrated affords a resistance whereby the surgeon will have a feel as the instrument penetrates different portion of the anatomy. In comparison with a guide wire as used heretofore, the non-cannulated dilator 10 of this invention is relatively rigid and will not bend or flex when attempted to be bent under the normal force of the human hands as opposed to the guide wire that will bend and flex under the same force conditions.
After a small stab wound is made at the entry point, as shown in
Once the target has been reached, each of the dilators 18 are sequentially inserted over the non cannulated dilator in the order of the smallest to the largest diameter dilator and likewise are worked with the use of a tool until the target is reached. The non cannulated dilator 10 can be marked with a graduated scale that the surgeon can use to select the proper sized dilator retractor or cannular 21. The cannula or dilator retractor 21 is inserted over the last of the dilators 18 whereby the surgeon then has access to the target in order to proceed with the surgery or stated another way the dilator retractor 21 defines a working channel to accommodate all of the instruments used in the surgical procedure.
Obviously, in the procedure for obtaining the working channel enumerated in the immediately above paragraph, the inventive non-cannulated dilator 10 replaces the heretofore utilized guide wire avoiding or at least avoiding the likelihood of passing through the ligamentum flavum and into the spinal canal.
Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to detailed embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention.
This application is a divisional of U.S. Patent Application No. 10/024,221 filed on Oct. 30, 2001 and entitled “NON CANNULATED DILATORS,” which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10024221 | Oct 2001 | US |
Child | 10899707 | Jul 2004 | US |