Percutaneous carpal tunnel plasty method
OwnerJ. Lee Bergerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Nerve entrapment such as Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is relieved by a surgical procedure for increasing the spatial diameter of the tunnel enclosing the nerve, which involves inserting a protected balloon catheter into the tunnel and serially inflating and deflating the catheter while moving it along the tunnel from one end to the other.
Claims9
A surgical procedure for relieving nerve entrapment syndrome by increasing the spatial diameter of the carpal tunnel enclosing the nerve comprising making an incision through the skin subcutaneous tissue proximate the .entrapped nerve, retracting the incision, inserting a director means for protecting the nerve and underlying structure into said incision, inserting a deflated balloon catheter by means of said director means through said incision into said tunnel along with means for monitoring pressure in said tunnel, serially inflating and deflating said balloon catheter while intermittently moving it along the tunnel and continuously montioring the pressure therein to thereby increase the diameter of the tunnel, deflating and removing said catheter, and director means from said incision and closing the incision.
A surgical procedure for decompressing the median nerve in the carpal tunnel by increasing the spatial diameter of the carpal tunnel enclosing the median nerve which comprises making an incision through the skin and subcutaneous tissue proximate the median nerve, retracting the incision, identifying the proximal portion of the transverse carpal ligament, inserting a grooved director means for protecting the nerve and carpal ligament into said incision, inserting a deflated balloon catheter by means of said director means through said incision along with pressure monitoring means underneath the transverse carpal ligament to the most distal end thereof;
- injecting a fluid into said balloon catheter and serially inflating and deflating said catheter while intermittantly moving it along said carpal tunnel from distal to proximal end and continuously monitoring the pressure therein thereby stretching the transverse carpal ligament, deflating and removing said catheter, director means and pressure monitoring means from said incision and closing the incision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.