Patent Application
20140121649
Some surgical procedures involve or result in tubes being passed through the skin or wound of the patient to the interior of the patient's body. The tube may be for drainage, for example. Dressing the patient at the entrance of the tube into the body is time consuming, typically involving application of layers of gauze and adhesive tape, to construct a dressing that will seal around the tube. Such dressings cover the wound/tube entrance into the body with opaque dressing layers, e.g. gauze, and the medical personnel caring for the patient cannot see the wound area to monitor for infection, bleeding and other problems.
Features and advantages of the disclosure will readily be appreciated by persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the drawing wherein:
In the following detailed description and in the several figures of the drawing, like elements are identified with like reference numerals. The figures are not to scale, and relative feature sizes may be exaggerated for illustrative purposes.
An exemplary embodiment of a surgical wound dressing for a surgical tube wound or other device entrance into the body includes a round dressing structure, with adhesive on the outer perimeter of the underside, an absorbent gauze ring secured to the underside by an annular portion of the adhesive, and an interior clear window allowing the nurse or other medical personnel to see if there is infection or bleeding. At the very center the window area may be sliced like a pie to allow a tube to pass through the wound dressing. The dressing can be fabricated in multiple sizes, and in shapes other than round. In an exemplary embodiment, the dressing is also sliced from the center all the way to the outside allowing the nurse to apply the dressing to a wound site with an existing tube exiting the human body, by opening or spreading the dressing apart at the slice or slit sufficiently to pass the dressing around the tube. A secondary molded plastic structure may optionally be included, to fit over the dressing and support the tube itself.
The dressing assembly will typically be fabricated using sterile materials, and provided for use in a sterile packaging. The nurse or medical personnel dressing the patient wound site opens the sterile packaging, removes a release layer covering the outer portion of the adhesive on the dressing to expose the adhesive ring at the outer perimeter of the dressing, and positions it on the patient's body, opening the dressing at a radial slit to position the dressing around the existing tube exiting the patient's body. The adhesive holds the dressing assembly in place on the patient's body. The radial slit is sealed by an overlap portion of the top cover layer, or by a separate tape portion. The window permits visual inspection of the wound site without removing the dressing.
Embodiments of the dressing assembly may include one or more of the following advantages or features. The dressing assembly provides ease of use, is self-contained, and saves valuable time in dressing the wound site or tube entry location. This benefits the patient as well as the medical personnel.
An exemplary dressing assembly 50 is illustrated in
In an exemplary embodiment, the dressing assembly further includes an adhesive layer 70 adhered to the underside 60A of the cover layer 60. In this exemplary embodiment, the adhesive covers the outer peripheral portion of the underside of the cover layer, leaving open a center region of the cover layer. The outer portion of the adhesive layer is covered with a cover sheet or release layer 72, which is removed before the dressing is placed onto the patient's body. The interior portion of the adhesive functions to hold in place a ring-shaped layer or disc 80 of absorbent material, such as cotton gauze.
The dressing assembly 50 is provided, in this exemplary embodiment, with a slit 54 formed from the tube port 52 through to the edge of the assembly. In an exemplary embodiment, the slit 54 defines opposed radial edges in the cover layer, adhesive layer and absorbent material. The slit allows the dressing assembly to be opened at the slit edges enough to allow the dressing to be passed around the tube 10, as the dressing is being applied to the patient. With the dressing in position surrounding the tube, the edges can be brought together, or even overlapped, and the exposed cover layer periphery adhered to the patient's skin by the exposed portion of the adhesive. The adhesive layer 70 and the absorbent ring 80 may each have slits 72, 82, respectively, in registration with the slit edge formed in the cover sheet. In one exemplary embodiment, the cover layer 60 is formed with an overlap flap portion 64 and extended tab portion 64A. A separate pie shaped adhesive layer 66 may be applied to the underside of the overlap flap portion 66 and covered with a similarly shaped cover or release sheet 66A, to be used to seal the overlap flap portion 66 to the underlying portion of the cover layer to seal the slit. The adhesive cover sheet 74 may or may not have a slit formed through it; the lack of a slit may provide some benefit in holding together the dressing assembly prior to application to a patient.
The tube support structure 90 may be fabricated of a clear or opaque plastic material, having sufficient flexibility to be spread apart at the slit 90B to fit around the tube, yet rigid enough to provide some support for the tube and protection for the wound site. In an exemplary embodiment, the tube support structure 90 may be injection molded from polyethylene.
A further embodiment 150 of a wound dressing assembly is shown in
In other embodiments, the dressing assembly may be formed without a slit, and the dressing applied by inserting a distal end of the tube through the tube port. This embodiment provides the nurse the option to cut a slit in the dressing if desired, e.g. by use of scissors or knife.
Exemplary sizes for the wound dressing may range from 1 inch diameter to 6 inches or larger, for round or capsule shapes (oblong or race-track shaped) from 1.5 inches to 6 inches or larger. The tube support diameters and dressing sizes/scales will be selected in dependence on the diameter of the tube or other device protruding from the body.
Materials for the wound dressing may vary, but will typically be latex free. Vinyl, cotton and non-woven fabrics may also be employed, for example. Parts of the dressing, such as portions of the cover layer, may be ventilated with perforation patterns. In other embodiments, the dressing may be fabricated as a co-injection molded assembly, wherein the absorbent material 80 is placed in the mold and bonded to the cover layer formed by the injection molding, using silicon or vinyl to form the cover layer. In this case, the adhesive to hold the dressing to the body is applied after the co-molding process.
The cover sheet 210 may be fabricated of a thin flexible translucent or transparent film, preferably a waterproof breathable film, e.g. 3 mil in thickness. Suitable films are commercially available, e.g. those used in dressing marketed as “Duoderm”, “Granuflex”, “Ultex” and “Tegaderm.” The absorbent layer 220 may have a thickness on the order of 18 mils, in an exemplary embodiment. Other thicknesses of the cover layer and absorbent layer may alternatively be employed.
Although the foregoing has been a description and illustration of specific embodiments of the invention, various modifications and changes thereto can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/719,452, filed Oct. 28, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61719452 | Oct 2012 | US |
