Medical prosthesis for preventing gastric reflux in the esophagus
First Claim
1. A prosthesis to prevent gastric reflux in the esophagus including a tube (1,6) made of a biocompatible polymer that is resistant to gastric acid, one end of said tube being implanted at the upper opening of the stomach (5), the other end of said tube hanging freely in the stomach cavity, wherein the tube (1,6) has a generally constant sectional diameter of between 25 and 30 mm along substantially the entire length thereof from said one end to said other end and the tube has a length ranging between 5 and 10 cm, a thickness of a wall of the tube (1,6) ranging between 0.2 and 0.6 mm, depending on the nature of the polymer, thereby to collapse under lateral pressure applied thereto externally, when the level of pressure generated by gastric reflux is reached.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A prosthesis in the form of a flexible tube having a substantially uniform cross section is disclosed. The prosthesis comprises a flange (2) for endoscopically placing stitches or clips in a hiatal hernia (3), and a flexible tubular portion (1) enabling the tube to be squeezed by exerting a pressure (F) on the outer surface thereof in order to prevent reflux of the stomach contents into the esophagus. Food can pass freely through the prosthesis in the direction from the esophagus (4) to the stomach (5). The prosthesis is made of a biocompatible polymer optionally containing barium sulphate to make it detectable using X-rays.
453 Citations
8 Claims
- 1. A prosthesis to prevent gastric reflux in the esophagus including a tube (1,6) made of a biocompatible polymer that is resistant to gastric acid, one end of said tube being implanted at the upper opening of the stomach (5), the other end of said tube hanging freely in the stomach cavity, wherein the tube (1,6) has a generally constant sectional diameter of between 25 and 30 mm along substantially the entire length thereof from said one end to said other end and the tube has a length ranging between 5 and 10 cm, a thickness of a wall of the tube (1,6) ranging between 0.2 and 0.6 mm, depending on the nature of the polymer, thereby to collapse under lateral pressure applied thereto externally, when the level of pressure generated by gastric reflux is reached.
Specification