SUCTION ADAPTOR FOR HIGHLY VISCOUS ENTERAL NUTRIENT

Abstract

[Problem] To provide an economic suction adaptor that is capable of suctioning a highly viscous enteral nutrient to a gastric fistula catheter syringe without the intake of air.

[Solution] The number of people having meals of highly viscous enteral nutrients such as blended diets through a gastric fistula catheter is increasing among pediatric patients who need long-term intubation nutrients, and among elderly people who have trouble with oral intake. Suctioning a blended diet on a dish with a syringe alone is undesirable because air is introduced. The suction adaptor of the present invention is used by being connected to the syringe, wherein a suction tube having, on an upper portion thereof, a connection part connected to a nozzle of the syringe is formed in the middle of a bowl-shaped suction pad which is an elastic body.

Claims

1-2. (canceled)

3. A method for sucking into a syringe a highly viscous enteral nutrient, comprising: providing a syringe having an internal chamber, a plunger and tube tip; providing a suction tube having a syringe side and a suction side; providing a connecting portion positioned at the syringe side of the suction tube and connected to the tube tip of the syringe; providing a bowl-shaped suction pad having a resilient body connected to the suction side of the suction tube, the suction side of the suction tube connected to a center of the bowl-shaped suction pad; arranging the highly viscous enteral nutrient onto a dish; placing the bowl-shaped suction pad to press against the highly viscous enteral nutrient; withdrawing the plunger in the syringe to create a vacuum in the internal chamber to draw the highly viscous enteral nutrient into the internal chamber; disconnecting the syringe from the bowl-shaped suction pad and connecting the syringe to a gastrostomy catheter; pushing the plunger into the syringe to expel the highly viscous enteral nutrient into the gastrostomy catheter.

4. The method according to claim 3, comprising: repeating at least certain of the above steps, including the arranging through the pushing steps, as desired.

Description

BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a gastrostomy catheter, where (a) is an overall oblique view, and (b) is an enlarged view of a funnel portion to which the tube tip of a syringe is connected.

[0023] FIG. 2 (a) is a front view illustrating the entire syringe, and (b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the tube tip.

[0024] FIG. 3 (a) is an overall oblique view illustrating an embodiment of the suction adapter, and (b) is a cross-sectional front view.

[0025] FIG. 4 (a) is similarly an enlarged cross-sectional view of the syringe and the connecting portion of the suction adapter, and a cross-sectional view illustrating a connected state. (b) and (c) are cross-sectional views illustrating the connecting portions of other suction adapters, and the connected state.

[0026] FIG. 5 is an oblique view illustrating other exemplary embodiments of the suction pad.

[0027] FIG. 6 is an oblique view illustrating exemplary embodiments of the puller.

[0028] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional front view illustrating the usage state of the suction adapter.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0029] An embodiment of the suction adapter for a highly viscous enteral nutrient, according to the present invention, will be described on the basis of the accompanying drawings.

[0030] FIGS. 3 (a) and (b) are an oblique view and a cross-sectional front view illustrating an embodiment of a suction adapter 20 according to the present invention. Furthermore, FIGS. 4 (a), (b), and (c) are enlarged views of a connecting portion of the suction adapter 20 and the syringe 10, and a cross-sectional view illustrating the connected state.

[0031] The suction adapter 20 is integrally molded using a synthetic resin (such as polyvinyl chloride), a suction pad 21 comprising a bowl-shaped resilient body is formed at the tip end thereof, and a suction tube 22 is provided upright in a central portion thereof. A communicating hole is formed in a central portion of the suction tube 22, a suction inlet port 22a is formed on the suction pad 21 side, and a connecting portion 22b to which the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 is connected is formed on the other end side.

[0032] As illustrated in FIG. 4 (a), a female thread 22c with which the male thread 13a of the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 meshes is formed on the upper end side of the connecting portion 22b, and a guide 22d which engages with an inner diameter 13b of the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 is formed on the inside thereof. The guide 22d is formed with a tapered shape which has a small diameter on the connecting portion 22b side, and which gradually becomes larger with increasing distance toward the rear, and a hole which has the same diameter as far as the suction inlet port 22a is formed in a central portion of the guide 22d.

[0033] The method for using the suction adapter 20 configured as described above will next be described.

[0034] For example, if pureed food, which is a highly viscous enteral nutrient, is to be administered to a gastrostoma, the pureed food is first poured directly from a blender onto a dish 30, or is removed therefrom using a spoon or the like.

[0035] Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 is connected to the connecting portion 22b, which is the upper end of the suction tube 22 of the suction adapter 20, but first the plunger 12 of the syringe 10 is pushed in as far as the bottom of the outer tube 11, and the male thread 13a of the tube tip 13 is screwed into the female thread 22c of the connecting portion 22b of the suction tube 22. As a result, the inner diameter 13b of the tube tip 13 mates with and comes into close contact with the outer diameter of the guide 22d of the suction tube 22.

[0036] Then, with the suction pad 21 on the lower side, and while being held substantially vertical, the suction pad is pressed lightly against the pureed food 35 on the dish 30, from the upper surface thereof.

[0037] If the plunger 12 of the syringe 10 is pulled up while in this state, the pureed food 35 is sucked up and sucked into a space from where the plunger 12 of the syringe 10 has been pulled up.

[0038] Next, the connecting portion 22b of the suction adapter 20 is detached from the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10, the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 is connected, by being screwed, to the funnel 5 of the gastrostomy catheter 1 illustrated in FIG. 1, and the plunger 12 is pushed in to deliver the pureed food 35 to the gastrostoma.

[0039] It should be noted that, since outside air flows in from the suction tube 22, the suction adapter 20 from which the syringe 10 has been removed can easily be detached from the dish 30.

[0040] In order to continue delivering the pureed food 35 to the gastrostoma, the syringe 10 should be removed from the funnel 5 and replaced on the suction adapter 20, and the same operation as described hereinabove should be repeated.

[0041] Other embodiments of the suction tube 22 of the suction adapter 20 will next be described on the basis of FIG. 4 (b) and FIG. 4 (c).

[0042] The suction tube 22A in FIG. 4 (b) comprises the suction tube 22 described hereinabove without the female thread 22c of the connecting portion 22b, and is connected to the syringe 10 by means of mating between the inner diameter 13b of the tube tip 13 and the guide 22d of the suction tube 22. The structure of the suction tube 22 is simpler than that described hereinabove, and workability when connecting to the syringe 10 is also better since the screwing operation described hereinabove is not required.

[0043] The suction tube 22B in FIG. 4 (c) comprises the suction tube 22 described hereinabove without the guide 22d of the connecting portion 22b, and is connected to the syringe 10 by means of mating between the male thread 13a of the tube tip 13 and the female thread 22c of the suction tube 22B.

[0044] The suction tube 22B has a simple structure, but when used, the male thread 13a must be screwed in such that the tip end of the tube tip 13 of the syringe 10 comes into close contact with a contacting surface 22f of a coupling port 22.

[0045] FIG. 5 illustrates various embodiments of the suction adapter, where suction adapter 20A represents a case in which the suction tube 22 and the suction pad 21 have a large diameter, and suction adapter 20B represents a case in which the size is small and the lower surface of the suction pad 21 is elliptical. Furthermore, suction adapter 20C represents a case in which the suction tube 22 is long, and the lower surface of the suction pad 21 is polygonal.

[0046] A decision regarding which to use should be made in accordance with the properties of the highly viscous enteral nutrient and the size and shape of the dish 30 being used.

[0047] The embodiments of FIG. 6 will be described next.

[0048] In a state in which the syringe 10 is coupled to the suction adapter 20 and the highly viscous enteral nutrient has been sucked in, the suction pad 21 is suction-attached to the dish 30, and the suction pad 21 cannot be pulled away from the dish 30. In the suction adapters illustrated in FIG. 6, a puller 23 is affixed to an outer peripheral portion of the suction pad 21 to enable the suction pad to be pulled away from the dish 30 in such a case.

[0049] Various pullers 23 are conceivable, as illustrated in FIG. 6 (a) to (c). The puller in (a) is in the shape of a rod provided upright on an outer peripheral portion of the suction pad 21, and with a convex grasping portion on which fingers can be placed formed at the upper end, in (b), a ring-shaped handle is attached to the upper end, and in (c), the upper end has a hook shape.

[0050] If a suction adapter 20H provided with such a puller is employed, after a prescribed amount of the prepared pureed food 35 has been sucked into the syringe 10, for example, the suction pad 21 can easily be pulled away from the dish 30 by pulling the puller 23 of the suction adapter 20H, and a separately prepared pureed food, or the remaining pureed food, can be additionally sucked into the syringe 10.

EXPLANATION OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0051] 1 Gastrostomy catheter [0052] 2 Balloon [0053] 3 Fixing plate [0054] 4 Tube [0055] 5 Funnel [0056] 6 Funnel stopper [0057] 10 Syringe [0058] 11 Outer tube [0059] 12 Plunger [0060] 13 Tube tip [0061] 13a Male thread [0062] 13b Inner diameter [0063] 14 Flange [0064] 15 Sealing material [0065] 20 Suction adapter [0066] 20A, 20B, 20C, 20H Suction adapter [0067] 21 Suction pad [0068] 22 Suction tube [0069] 22A, 22B Suction tube [0070] 22a Suction inlet port [0071] 22b Connecting portion [0072] 22c Female thread [0073] 22d Guide [0074] 22f Contacting surface [0075] 23, 23a, 23b Puller [0076] 30 Dish [0077] 35 Pureed food