Winged catheter placement assembly

In an intravenous catheter assembly including (1) a catheter unit comprising:

• (a) a flexible plastic catheter having a distally tapered distal end,
• (b) a winged catheter insertion means comprising a tubular body having a lumen therethrough and a pair of wings having substantially uniform thickness extending oppositely therefrom, the proximal end of said catheter in communication with said lumen of said catheter insertion means via its distal end,
• (c) a flexible tubing having its distal end in communication with said lumen of said catheter insertion means via its proximal end,
• (d) a tube hub having a lumen therethrough, the proximal end of said flexible tubing in communication with said lumen of said tube hub via its distal end, and (2) a needle unit inserted through said catheter, winged catheter insertion means, flexible tubing and tube hub;
• the improvement which comprises:
• said needle unit comprising a needle having a sharpened distal end extending beyond said distal end of said catheter, and a flexible stylet joining the proximal end of said needle to the distal end of a needle hub,
• complementary means associated with said lumen of said winged catheter insertion means and said needle mechanically interlocked to provide distally axial and rotational alignment of said needle relative to said catheter unit, and
• an area of reduced thickness on each of said wings along at least a portion of the width thereof substantially adjacent to said tubular body and providing improved flexibility to said wings, said lumen of said winged catheter insertion means having a diameter predetermined to only capture said needle within said tubular body by the distortion of said lumen of said winged catheter insertion means when said wings are simultaneously held in a substantially vertical position.