US3209753A - Intestinal clamps and the like - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 5, 1965 0,5. HAWKINS ETAL 3,209,753

INTESTINAL CLAMPS AND THE LIKE Filed May 4, 1962 1220822302 8.- floMB.HwM,

Jag; 11m, 6y I 7 ffor ueg United States Patent 3,209,753 INTESTINAL CLAMPS AND THE LIKE Donald B. Hawkins, Shermans Point, Camden, and Jay S. Hanna, Spear St., Ro'ckport, Maine Filed May 4, 1962, Ser. No. 192,511 2 Claims. (Cl. 128-321) The present invention relates to clamps for use in handling viscera.

As illustrative of uses of clamps in accordance with the invention, it is often necessary to grip the intestines in surgery, to enable them to be so moved as to expose the area of surgical attack. A typical clamp, for such uses, has a pair of arms that are pivotally interconnected between their handle ends and their tissue engaging members and includes means releasably holding their tissue members in clamping relationship. Such clamps are satisfactory in use but have the objectionable feature that their tissue engaging members create the risk of abrading, perforating, or tearing the serosal surfaces in the event they slip as the intestines are being tractioned.

The principal objective of the present invention is to minimize the risks of injury to viscera while they are held by clamps. This objective is attained by providing the clamp arms with tissue engaging members which are dimensioned to enable a substantial area of the tissue of a viscus to be gripped. The members are imperforate and smooth surfaced and at least one of them is marginally curved away from the other, from a relatively small central zone so that, when the clamp is applied, there is a correspondingly small central zone of greatest holding pressure with the pressure constantly decreasing towards opposite margins. As a consequence, the tissue engaging members are without any sharp line of demarcation between the zone to which pressure is applied and the surrounding soft tissue thus minimizing the risk of injury to the gripped viscus in the case of slippage or even slight relative movement of the tissue engaging members relative thereto, as when a clamp is being released, while ensuring that adequate holding pressure is applied to the viscus.

In the accompanying drawings, there are shown illustrative embodiments of the invention from which these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan elevation of a clamp in accordance with the invention,

FIGURE 2 is an edge view thereof,

FIGURE 3 is a partly sectioned, fragmentary view of the tissue engaging members on an increased scale,

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary edge view of tissue engaging members in accordance with another embodiment of the invention,

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view thereof, and

FIGURE 6 is a partly sectioned, fragmentary view, on the scale of FIGURE 3, of the tissue engaging members shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

In FIGURES 1 and 2, there .is shown a scissors-like clamp comprising twoarms 10 and 11 pivotally interconnected between their ends, as at 12, in a conventional 3,209,753 Patented Oct. 5,. 1965 manner. Thearms 10 and 11 have handles 13 and 14, respectively, at corresponding ends thereof. Adajcent thehandle 13, thearm 10 has anoffset portion 15 provided with a series oftransverse locking ridges 16. Adjacent thehandle 14, the arm 11 has anoffset portion 17 disposed to underlie theportion 15 when the clamp is closed and provided with a series oflocking ridges 18 disposed so that, when the clamp is attached, and depending on the clamping pressure exerted, one or more of the two series of ridges interengage to lock the clamp. The interengaged ridges are readily disengaged by slight, relative sidewise movement of the handles. The clamp, as thus far described, is conventional.

In accordance with the invention, the other ends of thearms 10 and 11 are provided withtissue engaging members 19 and 20, respectively, each shown as generally circular in shape. Themember 19 is concave while themember 20 is convex with respect thereto with themember 19 being relatively flatter so that there is a small central area of contact, when themembers 19 and 20 are closed together, and a surrounding marginal area in which themember 20 curves away fro-m themember 19 to provide a constantly increasing clearance. The edges of themembers 19 and 20 are rounded. Thearms 10 and 11 are resilient between thetissue engaging members 19 and 20 and thepivot 12.

In FIGURES 4-6, there is shown an embodiment of the invention in which clamp arms 10A. and 11A are provided withtissue engaging members 19A and 20A, respectively. These differ from themembers 19 and 20 only in that they are elongated, being shown as substantially rectangular.

In both embodiments, tissue engaging members are provided that, when in clamping relationship, have a relatively small central area of greatest holding pressure and a marginal zone wherein the holding pressure constantly decreases towards the margins of the members. The size of the central area is theoretically a point in the case of themembers 19 and 20 and theoretically linear in the case of themembers 19A and 20A but, in practice, may be larger. It is essential, however, that the central area be relatively small and that the tissue engaging members be without any sharp line of demarcation between such a central zone and the surrounding tissue of the viscus to which the clamp is applied.

We claim:

1. In a clamp for gripping viscera, a pair of arms, each arm including a handle at its rear end and a tissue engaging member attached to its front end, pivot means interconnecting said arms, and coacting locking means carried by each arm interengaging when said members are in clamping engagement, the arms, between said members and said pivot, being resilient with the extremities to which said members are attached disposed towards each other, and said tissue engaging members being smooth surfaced and imperforate, the tissue engaging face of one member being concave and the tissue engaging face of the other member being convex and dimensioned to seat within the thus established concavity, the concave face being relatively flatter than the convex face, and said faces establishing a central clamping zone and a marginal zone in which the clearance increases towards the margins of said members, each tissue engaging mem- 3 4 her projecting outwardly in all directions from the arm 2,645,013 7/53 Mathison 3263 extremity to which it is attached. 2,695,616 11/54 Hansell 128-346 2. The clamp of claim 1 in which the central clamping 2,698,483 1/55 Berkowitz 81424 X zone is elongated and extends laterally with respect to OTHER REFERENCES the pan of arms. 5

KNY-Scheerer Co. Catalog, copyright 1914, page 2041 References Cited by the Examiner relied upon (Item B/1317).

UNITED STATES PATENTS Ann. Surgery 1933, article entitled An Inter-Ringed 604 079 5/98 Record 81 1s Clamp pages 794-796 1,O07:824 1 1 Trosper :::gi: 4X 10 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

2,477,689 8/49 Feinbloom 81-15 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A CLAMP FOR GRIPPING VISCERA, A PAIR OF ARMS, EACH ARM INCLUDING A HANDLE AT ITS REAR END AND A TISSUE ENGAGING MEMB ER ATTACHED TO ITS FRONT END, PIVOT MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID ARMS, AND COACTING LOCKING MEANS CARRIED BY EACH ARM INTERENGAGING WHEN SAID MEMBERS ARE IN CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT, THE ARMS, BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS AND SAID PIVOT, BEING RESILIENT WITH THE EXTREMITIES TO WHICH SAID MEMBERS ARE ATTACHED DISPOSED TOWARDS EACH OTHER, AND SAID TISSUE ENGAGING MEMBERS BEING SMOOTH SURFACED AND IMPERFORATE, THE TISSUE ENGAGING FACE OF ONE MEMBER BEING CONCAVE AND THE TISSUE ENGAGING FACE OF THE OTHER MEMBER BEING CONVEX AND DIMENSIONED TO SEAT WITHIN THE THUS ESTABLISHED CONCAVITY, THE CONCAVE FACE BEING RELATIVELY FLATTER THAN THE CONVEX FACE, AND SAID FACES ESTABISHING A CENTRAL CLAMPING ZONE AND A MARGINAL ZONE IN WHICH THE CLEARANCE INCREASES TOWARDS THE MARGINS OF SAID MEMBERS, EACH TISSUE ENGAGING MEMBER PROJECTING OUTWARDLY IN ALL DIRECTIONS FROM THE ARM EXTREMITY TO WHICH IT IS ATTACHED.

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