Stiffened surgical device

• US 5,383,904 A
• Filed: 10/13/1992
• Issued: 01/24/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United States Surgical Corporation (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: United States Surgical Corporation (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Muth, Ross, Totakura, Nagabhushanam
• Primary Examiner(s): Graysay, Tamara L.
• Application Number:
  US07/959,012
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 606/228, 606/229, 606/230, 606/231
• US Class Current: 606/228
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/06 Needles ; Sutures; Needle-suture combinations; Holders or packages for needles or suture materials puncturing needles A61B17/34; hypodermic needles A61M5/32 ; sewing needles D05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0406 Pledgets
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/06057 Double-armed sutures, i.e. sutures having a needle attached to each end
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 17/145 Coating

Abstract

A suture-pledget combination is improved by applying a stiffening agent to at least a portion of the suture adjacent to the pledget to decrease the probability of tangling or twisting of the suture during use.

Claims

1. A method of treating a suture-pledget device with a pledget disposed on a central region of the suture comprising applying a stiffening agent to at least a portion of the suture adjacent to the pledget wherein the stiffening agent is applied to the suture and the pledget is substantially unstiffened.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein said step of applying a stiffening agent comprises submerging at least a portion of the suture in the stiffening agent.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of applying a stiffening agent comprises coating, spraying, brushing or wiping the stiffening agent onto at least a portion of the suture.

4. The method according to claim 1 further comprising covering the pledge with a material suitable for preventing the stiffening agent from contacting said pledget.

5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the material covering the pledget is a metal foil.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the stiffening agent comprises homopolymers and copolymers selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohol, polyhydroxy alkyl methacrylate, polyacrylamide, polyalkylene oxide and mixtures thereof.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the stiffening agent comprises poly (2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate).

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the step of applying a stiffening agent comprises applying to the suture a solution of stiffening agent dissolved in at least one organic solvent.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the organic solvent is ethyl alcohol.

10. The method according to claim 1 wherein the stiffening agent comprises materials selected from the group consisting of carboxymethyl cellulose, alginic acid, poly-n-acetyl glucose amine, poly-n-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, and mixtures and copolymers thereof.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the solvent is water.