Inflatable cholangiocath and method for cholangiography therewith

摘要

An inflatable cholangiocath (10) includes an elongate shaft (11) having a proximal and a distal end (12,14), a second shaft (15) carried at the distal end and having left and right branches (16,18) adapted to be inserted into an incised duct of a patient and a central drainage lumen (24) extending from the proximal end, through the elongate shaft, and out the left and right branches, balloon means (30) encompassing a portion of the distal end and the left and right branches, the balloon means being closed to the central drainage lumen and, means for selectively inflating and deflating (20) the balloon means within the duct for predetermined periods of time. An improved method of cholangiography is also provided and includes the steps of surgically incising the common bile duct of an anesthetized patient, inserting an inflatable hollow tube means (14) into the incised bile duct, inflating the tube means so as to seal the incision from the flow of liquid, injecting a radiopaque contrast agent through a hollow shaft means (11), communicating with the hollow tube means, into the bile duct, subjecting the injected bile duct to radiography whereby any stones therein can be detected, deflating the hollow tube means and removing any such stones as may be detected, repeating the steps of inflating, injecting, subjecting and deflating until the bile duct is free from stones and removing the inflatable tube means from the bile duct and the patient. The cholangiocath can be provided with a hypodermic syringe (40) in a sterile disposable package (75) to provide the user with a complete, sterile unit for the cholangiography procedure.