Wound-closure device and method
First Claim
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1. A device for closing a wound in the body of a subject, especially a linear surgical incision, comprising:
- a pair of low-extensibility garment-type flexible textile support tapes having juxtaposed inner edges;
respective continuous flexible garment-type slide-fastener coupling elements affixed to said tapes along said edges and having mutually interdigitatable coupling heads composed of polyester or polyamide and compression and buckling resistant when coupled together;
a slider shiftable along said coupling elements for selectively interdigitating the coupling heads of said coupling elements to couple said elements together and separating said coupling elements;
a respective spacer strip fixed on a surface of each tape, said surface facing toward said body and said strip spaced from the respective coupling element for holding said coupling elements away from said wound; and
means for adhesively bonding said tapes to said body on opposite sides of said wound with said spacer strips interposed between said tapes and said body, said means including an adhesive layer having a hypoallergenic adhesive facing toward and contacting said body, and at least one adhesive strip overlapping each of said tapes and having a portion projecting beyond an outer edge of the respective tape opposite the respective inner edge, the widths of said adhesive strips including the projecting portions thereof being at least sufficient to enable the bond between said tapes and said body to withstand the wound-closing force between opposite sides of the wound.
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Abstract
A gaping surgical incision can be closed by drawing the edges of the incision toward one another by the application of traction to the wound. Adhesive strips which project beyond support tapes of a conventional garment-type slide fastener stringer are then applied to the skin along the incision and the slider is closed to provide a healing closure for the wound. Spacer strips between the skin and the support tapes are spaced outwardly from the respective coupling elements to define a free space and prevent the wound from contacting the coupling elements or the support tapes.
80 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A device for closing a wound in the body of a subject, especially a linear surgical incision, comprising:
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a pair of low-extensibility garment-type flexible textile support tapes having juxtaposed inner edges; respective continuous flexible garment-type slide-fastener coupling elements affixed to said tapes along said edges and having mutually interdigitatable coupling heads composed of polyester or polyamide and compression and buckling resistant when coupled together; a slider shiftable along said coupling elements for selectively interdigitating the coupling heads of said coupling elements to couple said elements together and separating said coupling elements; a respective spacer strip fixed on a surface of each tape, said surface facing toward said body and said strip spaced from the respective coupling element for holding said coupling elements away from said wound; and means for adhesively bonding said tapes to said body on opposite sides of said wound with said spacer strips interposed between said tapes and said body, said means including an adhesive layer having a hypoallergenic adhesive facing toward and contacting said body, and at least one adhesive strip overlapping each of said tapes and having a portion projecting beyond an outer edge of the respective tape opposite the respective inner edge, the widths of said adhesive strips including the projecting portions thereof being at least sufficient to enable the bond between said tapes and said body to withstand the wound-closing force between opposite sides of the wound. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of closing a gaping surgical-incision wound flanked by skin of a body of a patient, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) initially drawing ends of the wound apart longitudinally of the wound to cause longitudinal edges of the wound to be approached to one another; (b) while said ends of the wound are drawn apart in step (a) adhesively applying to said body of the patient a device for closing said wound in an uncoupled state thereof, said device including; a pair of low-extensibility garment-type flexible textile support tapes having juxtaposed inner edges, respective continuous flexible garment-type slide-fastener coupling elements affixed to said tapes along said edges and having mutually interdigitatable coupling heads composed of polyester of polyamide and compression and buckling resistant when coupled together, a slider shiftable along said coupling elements for selectively interdigitating the coupling heads of said coupling elements to couple said elements together and separating said coupling elements, a respective spacer strip fixed on a surface of each tape, said surface facing toward said body of the patient and said strip spaced from the respective coupling element for holding said coupling elements away from said wound over a free space adapted to extend the length of said wound, and means for adhesively bonding said tapes to said body of the patient on opposite sides of said wound with said spacer strips interposed between said tapes and said body of the patient, said means including an adhesive layer having a hypoallergenic adhesive facing toward and contacting said body of the patient, and at least one adhesive strip overlapping each of said tapes and having a portion projecting beyond an outer edge of the respective tape opposite the respective inner edge, the widths of said adhesive strips including the projecting portions thereof being at least sufficient to enable the bond between said tapes and said body of the patient to withstand the wound-closing force between opposite sides of the wound, said tapes and spacer strips being applied to the skin of the body of the patient so that the distance between each wound edge and the respective spacer strip is substantially half of the width of said free space; and (c) displacing said slider along said coupling elements to effect interdigitation of said coupling elements and draw the wound edges which have been approached to one another into wound-knitting contact with one another along the length of the wound. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification