Priming And Tunneling System For A Retrograde Catheter Assembly

A catheter assembly, comprising:

• a catheter tube including a pair of lumens extending from a distal end portion to a proximal end portion of the catheter tube;
• a flow-directing cap about the proximal end portion of the catheter tube including a valve in the flow-directing cap at a proximal end of the catheter tube;
• and
• a priming adapter including a priming stylet configured for priming both an arterial lumen and a venous lumen of the pair of lumens when the priming stylet is inserted into either the arterial lumen or the venous lumen.

A catheter tube-tunneling assembly, comprising:

• a tunneling shaft having a first end portion and a second end portion;
• an ambidextrous handle including a hub disposed in and extending from a distal end portion of the handle,
• wherein the hub is configured for insertion of the first end portion or the second end portion of the tunneling shaft into a socket of the hub;
• and
• a lock collar configured to slide over the tunneling shaft and interlock with the hub to lock the tunneling shaft on the handle.

A catheter assembly, comprising:

• a distal portion, including:
• a catheter tube including a pair of lumens extending from a distal end portion to a proximal end portion of the catheter tube;
• a flow-directing cap about the proximal end portion of the catheter tube including a valve in the flow-directing cap at a proximal end of the catheter tube;
• and
• a proximal portion, including:
• a tunneling shaft having a first end portion and a second end portion configured for insertion into the flow-directing cap for subcutaneously tunneling the tunneling shaft and the catheter tube in a patient using a retrograde tunneling technique.