US2863458A - Vein stripper and a method of stripping veins - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 9, 1958 MODNY ET AL 2,863,458

VEIN STRIPPER AND A METHOD OF STRIFPING VEINS Filed Sept. 4, 1957 INVENTOR. Mlhls T. M04111 {m4 47am P. 0.1 bava ATTORNEY United States Patent G i VEIN STRIPPER AND A METHOD OF STRIPPING VEINS Michael T. Modny, Glen Ridge, and John T. Bambara, Bloomfield, N. J.

Application September 4, 1957, Serial No. 681,947

4 Claims. (Cl. 128-303) Our invention relates generally to devices and methods for stripping varicose veins, and specifically to devices and methods for stripping varicose veins in which a magnetically attractable plumb is caused to traverse a varicose vein by magnetic attraction exerted upon it from outside the human body. Varicose veins are ills of the body which may require treatment or removal. They may be painful and may become diseased. The method most commonly used is the insertion of a wire into an incision in the vein and advancing that member forcibly through the vein until it can be no further advanced. An incision is then made so that the wire may be redirected and advanced further through the vein until it once more reaches an abutment in the vein where another incision must be made in order to redirect the wire through the next course of the vein. Thus, in directing a vein stripper through a vein, a great many incisions may have to be made before the wire, which must traverse the entire vein, is finally at its goal.

Our invention requires only an incision at the point of entry and an incision at the point of exit. The vein stripper is pulled through the varicose vein by a nylon cord. The cord traverses the vein, following all the convolutions of the vein without any necessity for further incisions until it reaches the exit. This traversing of the vein is accomplished by the use of a magnetically attractable plumb at the end of the nylon line. The exertion of magnetic influence upon the plumb will draw it through the vein in its various courses and changes of directions until it reaches the incision where the stripped vein is to be withdrawn. Only the entry and exit incisions are required and the plumb and the line to which the vein stripper is attached are easily induced to traverse the entire vein without the necessity for additional incisions.

It is therefore an object of our invention to provide a vein stripper which may be inserted, either at the lower portion of a limb or the upper portion of a limb and cause it to easily traverse the entire vein.

Yet a further object of our invention is to limit the number of incisions, in a vein stripping operation, to two.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a vein stripper that will be directed through its courses by externally exerted magnetic influence.

Yet a further object of our invention is to provide a device which enables the method of vein stripping through magnetically impelling the stripping cord through the vein by the use of a magnetic plumb.

These objects and advantages, as well as other objects and advantages, may be achieved by the device illustrated in the drawings in which Figure 1 is a view of our vein stripper.

Figure 2 is a view of an incision showing the introduction of our vein stripper.

Figure 3 is a view of a limb having a varicose vein ice through which the plumb is. being drawn, .and .at the lower end of Figure 3 the plumb is being magnetically withdrawn from a second incision.

Referring now .to the drawings in detail, Figure 3 shows a limb exhibiting a varicose vein which follows -a somewhat tortuous course, immediately below the surface of the skin. This vein 11 is to be removed by a stripping operation. An incision 12 is made at the point defining one of the limits for removal of the vein. A second incision 13 is made at another point defining the opposite end of the limit for removal of the vein. A ligature 14 is applied to the vein and it is severed from the remaining portion 15 which is not to be removed. A longitudinal cut 29 is made .in the vein and a loose ligature 3%] is then applied below this cut 29.

A stripper 16 is provided. This stripper has a domed portion 17 and a stem 18. There is an axial passage 19 through the stripper 16. A nylon cord 20 is passed through this passage 19 and a knot 21 is applied to the cord 26 so that it cannot pull through the stripper 16. At the opposite end of the cord 20, a plumb 22 is provided. This plumb has an axial passage 23 through which the other end of the nylon cord 20 is passed and a knot 24 formed. The plumb 22 must be formed of magnetically attractive material. The plumb is inserted in the longitudinal incision 29 in the varicose vein. A magnet 25 is then applied to the exterior surface of the limb 26 and is caused to trace the course which the varicose vein 11 follows. This effects the movement of the plumb 22 through the varicose vein, in spite of abrupt turnings or reversals, without any necessity for additional incisions to redirect the plumb. The plumb will traverse the entire course of the vein, eventually emerging from a longitudinal slot 27. The plumb 22 may then be grasped and the stripper 16 drawn up tightly to the entering incision 29 in the vein. The ligature 30 is then tightened in order to prevent any possibility of the stripper 16 entering the vein, and further, to insure the end of the vein will remain on the stem 18 of the stripper. The transverse radial grooves 28, in the stem 13, will serve as seats for the ligature 30. Force is then applied to the lower end of the nylon cord and the stripper is drawn into the incision 12 and through the limb 26, carrying with it the varicose vein on the cord 20, until the vein emerges from the lower incision 13, carried on the cord and drawn out therefrom by the stripper 16. By proceeding with our vein stripper in this manner healing is much more rapid, incisions are reduced to two in number and the pain of the patient is drastically reduced. With the removal of the varicose vein, the ends of the vein are tied off to prevent further hemorrhaging and the incisions are closed by sutures.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

We claim:

1. A vein stripper comprising a stripper, a magnetically attractable plumb, a cord connected to the vein stripper and the plumb.

2. A Vein stripper comprising a generally tubular stem, an enlargement at one end of the stern, a magnetically attractable plumb, a cord connected to the stem and to the plumb.

3. A vein stripper comprising a generally mushroomshaped member having a passage therethrough, a magnetically attractable plumb, a cord connected to the member and to the plumb.

4. A vein stripper comprising a stem having an axial passage therethrough, dimensioned to enter a vein to be stripped, an enlargement on the end of the stem having a cross-sectional area generally greater than the crosssectional area of the vein to be stripped, a magnetically 4 attractable plumb dimensioned to enter and traverse the vein to be stripped, a cord at one end connected to the stern through the axial passage and at the other end to the plumb.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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