Irrigation system and tip with debrider

An arthroscopically insertable device for arthroscopic therapeutic treatment of a joint to remove irritants from the joint comprising:

• a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, the shaft being relatively rigid for most of its length;
• a debridement tip mounted to the distal end of the shaft, the debridement tip being more flexible than the relatively rigid portion of the shaft and having a flexible debridement surface;
• the rigidity of the shaft being sufficient to enable manipulation of the shaft to bring the debridement tip to bear against selected internal regions of a joint;
• the debridement tip and debridement surface having sufficient abrasion characteristics to enable arthroscopic debridement of selected regions of a joint and being sufficiently resilient and flexible as to debride said regions with reduced trauma;
• the debridement tip being molded from a polymer to include a portion having a cross-sectional dimension that is smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of the shaft;
• and
• a plurality of bristles protruding laterally from said surface of the debridement tip, the outer ends of the bristles defining the debridement surface, the ends of the bristles extending not substantially beyond the cross-sectional dimension of the shaft whereby the cross-sectional profile of the debridement tip and the shaft are of sufficiently small cross-sectional dimensions to enable arthroscopic insertion of the tip into a joint;
• the tip being molded to include an internal chamber that communicates with the lumen, the outlets being formed in the tip to communicate with the chamber;
• the shaft having a reduced diameter at its distal end, the proximal end of the tip defining a socket receptive to the reduced diameter distal tip of the shaft, the outer dimensions of the proximal end of the tip and the distal end of the shaft being substantially the same to define a relatively smooth transition between the external surfaces of the shaft and the tip.

An arthroscopically insertable device for arthroscopic therapeutic treatment of a joint to remove irritants from the joint comprising:

• a shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, the shaft being relatively rigid for most of its length;
• a debridement tip mounted to the distal end of the shaft, the debridement tip being more flexible than the relatively rigid portion of the shaft and having a flexible debridement surface;
• the rigidity of the shaft being sufficient to enable manipulation of the shaft to bring the debridement tip to bear forcefully against selected internal regions of a joint;
• the debridement tip and debridement surface having sufficient abrasion characteristics to enable arthroscopic debridement of irritant fragments from selected regions of a joint and being sufficiently resilient and flexible as to forcefully debride said regions with minimized trauma;
• the debridement tip being molded from a polymer to include a portion having a cross-sectional dimension that is smaller than the cross-sectional dimension of the shaft;
• and
• a plurality of bristles protruding laterally from said surface of the debridement tip, the outer ends of the bristles defining the debridement surface, the ends of the bristles extending not substantially beyond the cross-sectional dimension of the shaft whereby the cross-sectional profile of the debridement tip and the shaft are of sufficiently small cross-sectional dimensions to enable arthroscopic insertion of the tip into a joint;
• wherein the tip has a pair of flat sides with the bristles extending from each of the flat sides, the flat sides defining a thin portion of the tip adapted for insertion into small crevices.