GB2438169A

GB2438169A - Wound irrigating unit

Info

Publication number: GB2438169A
Application number: GB0609727A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Conal Hubert Curran
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-05-17
Filing date: 2006-05-17
Publication date: 2007-11-21
Also published as: GB0609727D0

Abstract

A wound irrigation unit comprises a fluid fillable bag 2, or unit for enclosing a wound 1 or lesion. The bag 2 or unit is then filled with saline liquid or gas in order to irrigate the wound 1. The unit 2 may have an inlet port 4 through which the fluid is introduced and an outlet port 5 through which the fluid can be withdrawn. The unit 2 may have seals 3 so that the fluid is contained. The saline may contain additional bactericidal or bacteria static agents such as iodine. The liquid may also be enriched with oxygen. Bactericidal gases may also be used to reduce wound infection.

Description

Rapid Heal Saline Bag The rapid heal saline bag may be used in the

process of wound healing management, in addition to current wound dressing practices to encourage faster healing times for human and animal patients.

The inspiration for this device comes from my experience with greater personal wound healing on regular exposure to the sea.

There are several problems with extended wound healing times for patients and health service resources. Patients suffer the pain and encumbrance of needing regular wound dressings for longer; this may mean a longer stay in hospital and, or regular attendance at a wound dressing centre. Longer wound healing times also lead to a greater risk of infection at the wound site because the skin is broken, or also longer exposure to the risk of hospital acquired infections.

For the healthcare provider or health service there is an extra expense associated with longer wound healing times due to the cost of dressings and staff man-hours (tissue viability nurses) involved in dressing and wound inspection per patient. There is also the difficulty with bed blocking' due to delayed discharge of patients with poor Poor wound healing may be due to many factors usually resulting in poor blood supply to a healing wound and this invention does not reverse any of those. What it does is encourage faster granulation tissue formation by improving the viability of each cell laid down at the wound site by creating a saline environment for a period of time at the wound site. The saline environment may also reduce the excessive scar formation or keloid by reducing the activity of fibrocytes.

It is important to explain that at this stage, the theory behind this device is unproven and ethical approval would need to be sought to proceed to the stage of clinical trials.

Only after these trials have been conducted and the benefit, if any is known, could the invention be seen as creditable. The clinical trials would be fraught with the usual difficulties, but these are always subject to inspection and are rarely insurmountable, however, I believe in the theory behind the invention and there could be an enormous benefit to human kind if this works.

The invention consists of; a sterile saline or seawater filled bag with an open surface that may enclose a wound for a period of time, with a flow of saline in one direction along its length. A saline reservoir, connecting pipes and waste saline collection unit complete the device. The advantage of having a flow of saline across the wound surface is that this decreases the chances of stagnation and infection of the wound.

The saline irrigation would also cleanse the wound of existing micro-organisms.

I will now explain the invention using drawings by way of example: Figure 1 shows a cylindrical plastic, saline filled pouch enclosing a lower leg with an ulcerated wound shaded.

Figure 2 shows an ovoid plastic, saline filled pouch enclosing an ulcerated wound on a lower leg.

Figure 3 shows the saline filled pouch with the filling bag, draining bag and hose pipes with clamps.

In figure 1 a variation of the saline filled bag is shown. The saline filled bag 2 is cylindrical in shape, following the contours of the limb it is attached to. it may be of variable thickness and preferably made of clear plastic to allow inspection of the wound, but may be made of different material.

The limb depicted is a lower leg with an ulcerated wound I shaded in. The bag 2 encloses the portion of the limb bearing the ulcer and would in this case have a seal 3 at both ends of the cylinder shape. The seal may be achieved by way of an adhesive material in a strip around the circumference of the limb on the surface of the bag attaching to the skin. A variation on the seal would also be to incorporate an inflatable cuff into the ends of the bag cylinder that would enclose the circumference of the limb when inflated.

The saline filled bag is of course filled with saline by means of a flexible hose pipe 4 made of the same material that may be of variable dimensions and hollow bore along its length. The bag is similarly drained of saline by means of a hose 5.

In figure 2 a variation on the device shows the saline filled bag 2 attached to one surface of the limb with the ulcer shaded 1, and not enclosing the circumference of the limb. This would be important, for example, in cases of fracture of the limb bones; when one would wish to minimise movement of the limb in the application of the device to the wound. In this case the seal 3 would need to be a flat adhesive circular or ovoid shaped strip, attached to and continuous with the bag, and larger in its diameter than the wound dimensions. Therefore the sizes of the seal and bag would be variable in construction and chosen with the size of the wound area in mind. Filling 4 and drainage 5 flexible hosepipes are also shown.

In figure 3 the cylindrical shape of the saline bag depicted in figure 1 is shown again, but without the limb. The saline reservoir 6 could be made to any dimensions and be made of any material, for example plastic. It could be suspended above the saline bag for example on a drip stand, thereby allowing gravity to draw the saline down into the bag, or pressure could be applied by an external force (for example manually squeezing) to compress the reservoir and thereby force the saline down into the bag.

The filling pipe 4 connects the reservoir to the saline bag and may be detachable, and has along its length a stop device or clamp 8, in order to control the flow of saline into the bag. The stop device may be an externally applied clamp (for example a clothes peg), or an internal adjustable rotating valve. The stop device may be at the exit from the reservoir itself and may be detachable, or activated and bypassed by way of insertion of the rigid end of the flexible hosepipe 4. The stop device may be positioned anywhere along the length of hosepipe 4 or at the entrance to the saline bag.

The flexible drainage hosepipe 5 may similarly have a stop device or clamp 8 to control the flow, or drainage olsaline from the saline bag 2 along its length to the waste-saline collection unit 7; this would allow the saline bag to be filled once in contact with the skin before starting the slow flow out towards the waste collection unit The waste saline collection unit 7 may be made of the same material and dimensions as the saline reservoir 6.

The version of the saline bag in figure 2 would also be connected to the reservoir and waste unit by flexible pipes.

The saline fluid filling the bag may have in addition bactericidal or bacteria static agents or compounds, for example; iodine in sea water.

There may also be a role for the enrichment of the liquid with oxygen to further enable wound healing.

There may also he a role in cases of infection for the use of bactericidal gases to further reduce wound infection.

Claims

Claims 1. A liquid or fluid fihlable bag or unit that encloses any

wound or lesion on a body, in order to allow contact with a saline liquid or gas for a period of time, with the purpose of improving the rate of wound healing and, or reducing infection and, or reducing the severity of scar tissue formation.

2. A device according to claim I that is made of any material and of any dimensions.

3. A device according to claim one that is intended for use on any wound, howsoever inflicted on a human, animal or plant species.