Apparatus for the insertion of catheters

An apparatus for inserting a supra pubic catheter in a patient comprising a substantially rigid, disposable, tubular canula and a substantially rigid disposable trocar slidably received in said canula, said trocar having distal and proximal ends and having a shoulder adjacent the proximal end thereof, said trocar having a longitudinal channel formed therein which extends along substantially the entire length thereof to permit the passage of a fluid between said trocar and said canula, said trocar being removable from said canula for installing a supra pubic catheter in said canula, said canula having distal and proximal ends and being sufficiently rigid to permit the advancement of the distal end thereof through the stomach wall of a patient by engaging the proximal end of said canula with said shoulder, said canula including a pair of closely spaced longitudinally extending frangible sections of reduced wall thickness which define a longitudinally extending removable section therebetween, said removable section being removable from the remaining portion of said canula to form a longitudinally extending open slot in said canula which extends along the entire length thereof, said canula being removable from a supra pubic catheter received therein by removing said removable section from the remaining portion of said canula and passing said catheter through said slot.