CA1058039A - Multi-chamber container for collecting urine from a plurality of catheters and method - Google Patents

Abstract

MULTI-CHAMBER CONTAINER FOR COLLECTING URINE
FROM A PLURALITY OF CATHETERS AND METHOD

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A multi-chamber container for collecting urine from different sources comprising a plurality of urine drainage tubes communicating with separate urine sources, a receptacle having a plurality of separate urine collection compartments, and means for separately connecting each of the drainage tubes to one of the separate compartments in order that urine passes from the drainage tubes to the compartments for retention therein.

Description

1~58~39 BACKGROIJND OF T~E INVENTION
The present invention relates to liquid drainage sys-tems, and more particularly to liquid collection xeceptacles.
In the past, catheters have been used to drain urine from a patient's bladder. In such a procedure, a distal end of ` ~ the catheter, such as a Foley catheter, is inserted through the ;~ patient's urethra into the bladder, and a retention balloon adja-.::
cent the distal end of the catheter is inflated in the bladder to ;;~ retain the catheter in place. The catheter has a drainage eye adjacent the distal end of the catheter communicating with a drainage lumen extending from the drainage eye to a proximal end of the catheter which remains outside the patient's ~ody during : ~, use of the catheter. Accordingly, urine drains from the bladder through the drainage eye and lumen to~the proximal end of the catheter after which the urine is collected in a receptacle.
" On occasion it is necessary to drain urine directly r ~; from one or both of the patient's urleters or kidneys. For exam-,.. ,~., .
ple, subsequent to certain ureterotomy procedures a ureteral ;-~ ca~heter is passed through the urethra, bladder, and uretero-~ 20 vesicle junction, such that drainage eyes in the ureteral cathe-- ter are located upstream from the surgical site, and possibly in the enlarged renal pelvis adjacent the kidney. Urine drains -;- through the drainage eyes and a drainage lumen extending through .;~; , .
-~` the ureteral catheter t~ a proximal end of the catheter outside ,` 25 the patient's body for collection of the urine. Thus, contact " I i .: : :
`i of a substantial amount of urine against the surgical site in the ; ureter is prevented. The Foley catheter is simultaneously used 'i to drain urine passing from the uncatheterized ureter into the `,,: ` . .

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bladder and to drain any residual urine ~rom the catheterized ureter which might eventually leak between the catheter and -the ureter.
` In the event that surqerv has been performed on both `` ureters a second ureteral catheter is placed in the other ureter, and urine drains through both ureteral catheters, while residual urine is drained from the bladder through the Foley catheter, which may also be utilized to stabilize the ureteral catheters.
A pair of ureteral catheters may also be used after surgery on .; . ;:
the bladder to prevent urine from passing into the bladder.

Similarly, ureteral catheters may be used for both ureters ~ during a partial differential study, where the relative output ,~ of urine from both kidneys is determined.

, A principal feature of a device for collecting urine , . ................................................................... .
constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is the provision of a multi-chamher container ~,` of simplified construction for collecting urine from a plurality -~` of catheters in a convenient and simplified manner.

'` According to one aspect of the present invention a~ . ~
~` 20 multi-chamber container for collecting urine from different sources comprises a plurality of urine drainage tubes communi-cating with separate urine sources, a receptacle having a plurality of separa~e urine collection oompartments, and means `~

for separately connecting each of said drainage tubes to one of ~5~` said separate compartments for simultaneous passage of urine f~om the drainage tubes to the compartments and retention therein,;
said connecting means comprising a plurality of drip chambers con- `
~` necting each of said drainage tubes to a separate comDartment to prevent retrograde bacterial movement from sai~ compartments.
~;, 30Thus, a feature of a preferred embodiment of the pre--`'' sent invention is that urine drains through the catheters and

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drainage tubes to separate compartments for collection therein.
Another feature of a p eferred er~odiment of the i~-vention is that the relative amount of urine drained through each of the catheters may be readily determined by the amount of urine collected in the compartments.
'~ Yet another feature of a preferred embodiment of the -. invention is that the separately collected urine is retained : ~ .
for separate diagnosis.
Still another feature of a preferred embodiment of ::
~ 10 the~invention is that each of thP drainage tubes may be connected , to the comparkments by separate drip charnbers to prevent retro-~s grade bacterial movement from the compartments to the catheters.
A feature of a preferred ernbodiment of the invention ~;~ is that each of the compartments may be separately vented. -Yet another feature of a preferred embodiment of the ~ invention is that in one embodiment the compartments may be `~ commonly vented.
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Another feature of a preferred embodiment of the inven-tion is ~he provision of a method for catheterizing a patient .. ., . ~
^;` ~o with the container of the present invention.
: -.i i i ~ Further features will become more fully apparent in the ~, ;- following description of the embodiments of this inventio~ and ~` from the appended claims. ~
~ In the drawings: -`~ Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view, taken partly in section, o one embodiment of a multi-chamber container and . " .: . .
'~- liquid drainage system of the present invention; -,~
,` Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale, ~i~ taken partly in section; of a ureteral catheter in the liquid ' 3Q ~rainage system of Fig. l; `
Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substan~
tially as indicated along the line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view, t~ken par~ly in ~- ~
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~eckion, of alternate venting m~ans for the container of Fig. l;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substanti-.:
ally as indicated along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and .... .
' Fig. 6 is a ~ragmentary plan view of~another embodiment , ~
' 5 of a multi-chamber container and liquid drainage system of the present invention.
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., ;; DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
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Refexring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a liquid drain-age system generally designated 20 having a Foley or urinary ca he- ~
~;, 10 ter 22, a uxeteral catheter 24, a pair of drainage tubes 26 and 28, and a container or receptacle 30. The Foley catheter 22 has a ; drainage eye 3~ adjacent a distal end 34 of the catheter, and a ' drainage lumen 36 extending from the drainage eye 32 to a proxi-,~ mal end 38 of the catheter. The catheter 22 has an inflatable ~5 retention balloon 40 adjacent the diistal end 34 of the catheter which is inflated through val~e means 42 on a side arm 43 of ~he catheter and through an inflation lumen ~not shown). The proxi-mal end 38 of the catheter 22 is connected to an upstream end 44 ~` of the drainage tube 28 with the drainage lumen 36 of the cathe-ter 22 in communication with a drainage lumen 46 in the drainage . . .
i tube 28.
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~ As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the ureteral catheter 24 has ;., ~ . .
~;`; a plurality oE drain~ge eyes 48 adjacent a distal end 50 of the catheter and a arainage lumen 52 extending from the drainage eye~
~` 25 48 to a proxLmal end 54 of the catheter. The proximal end 54 of .; ~ .
'-- the catheter 24 is connected to an upstream end 56 of ~he drain-~- age tube 26 by a connector 59 with the drainage lumen 52 in the ;
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, . , catheter 24 in communication with a drainage :lumen 60.in the drainage tube 26. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, downstream ends 62 :
. and 64 of the drainage tubes 26 and 28, respectively, are receiv-ed in and connected to a pair of connectors 66 and 68, preferably 5 drip chambers, with .the downstream ends 62 and 64 ~f ~he tubes 26 .~.. ; and 28 being spaced from the walls of the drip chambers to pre-vent retrograde bacterial movement through the drip chambers to . the drainage tubes.
The receptacle or drainage bag 30 has -a pair of flex-. ,:, , .
. . 10 i~le side walls 70 and 72, such as a plastic material, which are ` joined together along lines 74a, 74b, 74c, and 74d adjacent side -. edges of the bag. The side walls 70 and 72 are also joined .~ together along a line 76 extending between the lines 74a and 74c toward the upper end of the bag, and a line 78 extending betwaen ~ :
i;`~ 15 the lines 74b and 76 intermediate the lines 74a and c, thus defin~
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,~ ing a pair of side-by-side separate compartments 80 and 82 in the ~.~ bag. The side walls 70 and 72 may be joined together along the "',';' ~
:~ lines by any suitable means, .such as by heat or radio fre~uency .:

". sealing. Preferably, the :front wall 70 of the receptacle or bag :::

~ 20 30 is transparent, and the side wall has vertically scaled indicia !.-. . :
~,~ I and I' to indicate the volumes of urine separably collected in .:

. the compartments 80 and 82, respectively. ::

.; The side wall 70 has a pair of openings 84 and 86 commu~

.` nicating with and adjacent the:upper end of each of the compart-~ 25 ments 8~ and 82. The drip chambers 66 and 68 are secured to the ; . : , : outer surface of the side wall 70 with the drip chambers in commu-.. ;~ nication with the openings 84.and 86. ~ach of the.drip cha~ber~ ~ :

. 66 and 68 has a plurality of openings 88 and 90 adjacent *he upper :~.
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end of the drip chambers~ respectivelyr with the openings 88 and 90 being covered b~ air permeable filters 92 and 94, respectively, which permit passage of air into the drip chambers 66 and 68 while . .
filtering bacteria from the air. Thus, in this embodiment of the container each of the compartments 80 and 82 are vented by a sepa-; xate venting means in the drip chambers 66 and 68.

Alternatively, the compartments 80 and 82 may be vented ~ , through a single vent 36, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this -i embodLment, the side wall 70 has an opening 98 communicatïng with ` 10 both of the compartments 80 and 82 adjacent the seal line 78, with an air permeable filter 100 being located in ~d substanti-ally covering the opening 98. The vent 96 has a pair of flexible rings 102 and 104 secured to inner and outer surfaces of the wall 70 and retaining the filter 100 intermediate the rings in the t;,~,., ~ , .
15 opening 98. Thus, air passes through an opening 106 in the ring 102, the filter 100, ~nd an opening 108 in the ring 104 to com-monly vent the compartments 80 and 82.
~` As shown in Fig. 1, the bag 30 has a flexible flap 110 . .~ . . .
adjacent an upper end of the bag, and the -flap 110 has a pair of 20 openings 112 and 114 through which the drainage tubes 26 and 28 are threaded. The flap 110 serves to retain and stabilize the ~` drainage tubes 26 and 28 in proper position above the bag. The :.:
bag 30 also may have a pair of clips 116 and 118 and a cord 120 for releasably attaching ~he bag 30 to a suitable fixture, such . ~, .
as a bed rail (not shown), during use of the drainage system. A8 ` illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3, the bag 30 has an elongated tube ; 121 received intermediate the seal line 74d ~nd a seal line 123 which ex~ends between the seal lines 74a and c~ The tube 121 stabilizes the upper end of the flexible bag 30 and prevents ~, . - . ;
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tearing out of the clips 116 and 118 from the bag during use. t As shown in Fig. 1, the receptacle 30 also has a pair :,.
; of drai~ tubes 122 and 124 communicating with a lower end of the ,. .
. compartments 80 and 82, respectively. Outer ends af the drain :
:; 5 tubes 122 and 124 may be moved from a first storage position, with ~ the outer end of the tubes being located in pouches 126 and 128 :.: secured to the outer surface of the side wall 70, as shown in con-. nection with the compartment 80 in the drawing, and a second -,:
~: drainage position with the outer ends of the drain tubes being ; .~ .
: 10 lowered, as shown in connection with the compartment 82 in the drawing. A pair of clips 130 and 132 releasably close the drain :~ tubes 122 and 124, respectively, and may be opened when the drain ::
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. tubes are in theix second position to separately drain urine from ~ the compartments.
.i: 15 In operation of the drainage system, the physicii~n uses .:, .; ., ~
;: a cystoscope to locate ureterovesicle junction Uvl leading from .. `;": ,.
` the bladder B to the ureter Url, after which he threads the ure-:~ teral catheter 24 through the urethra U, and the ~ladder B into the ureter Url with the drainage eyes 48 located in the ureter ~r . 20 ~he physician then removes the oystoscope over the ureteral cathe-~-~ ter ~4. Next, the physician passes the distal end 34 of the Foley ~: ;
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.~ catheter 22 through the urethra U into the bladder Bt after which the retention balloon 40 is inflated in the bladder B through the . valve means 42 in the side arm 43 of the catheter by suitable. ~ ~:
. -25 means, such as a syringe (not shown). The inflated balloon 40 .~ retains the catheter 22 in place, and also engages against the `.,~;~ ureteral ca~heter 24 to assist in retaining the ureteral catheter ; at its proper location in ~he urPter. The ureteral catheter 24 ~-, ~, . , .~. may be Recured to thè Folay catheter 22 outside the patient'is ~od~

-~ 30 by suitable means, such as a tape strip 134, to retaln the ureteral -; ';: ;

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-- --: ~IDs8~;39 ., catheter to the F'oley catheter. Thus, if tension is applied to the proxLmal end 54 of the ureteral catheter 24, the tension is tran~-~mitted by the tape strip 134 to the Foley catheter 22, and the retention balloon 40 prevents dislodgment of the ureteral cathe-~`; 5 ter from the ureter Url. ~he proximal end 54 of the ureteral ; :`~
catheter 24 is connected to the upstream end 56 of the drai~age tube 26 by the connector 58, while the proximal end 38 of the Foley catheter 22 is connected to the upstream end 44 of the , drainage tube 28.
f`'.'` 10 Thus, urine passing from the Xidney Kl through the ureter Url passes through the drainage eyes 48 of the ureteral ~` catheter 24, through the drainage lumen 52 of the ureteral cathe-ter, the drainage lumen 60 of the drainage tube 26, and the drip chamber 66 into the compartment 80 for collection. Similarly, ~' 15 urine passing from the kidney K2 passes through ~he ureter Ur2 ; ;, into the bladder B, through the drainage eye 32 and drainage lumen 36 of the Foley catheter 22, the drainage lumen 46 of the ~, drainage tube 28, and the drip chamber 68 into the compartment 82 / for collection. Residual urine which may eventually leak around !'`'~'' 20 the ureteral catheter 24 into the bladder B similarly drains into the compartment 82. Accordingly, urine from the ureter Url and bladder B are separately collected in an aseptic manner in the ; compartments 80 and 82. The relative quantity of the separately drained urine may be readily checked by viewing the volume of 4 25 ~ollected urine through the transparent side wall 70, or the rela-~ tive volume of urine collected in the separate compartments may ~ .
be de~ermined by the indicia I and I' on the side wall 70~ Sepa- ~ ' rate samples of the colle~ted urine may also be obtained for ~` diagnosis through use of the drain tubes 122-and 124. It is noted ;

that in certain procedures the distal end 50 of the ureteral , . . .
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t . ~58~33~3 ; catheter 24 may be inserted into the renal pelvis Rl adjacent the kidney Kl.
Another embodiment of the liquid drainage system 20 of the present invention is illustrated in Fig. 6, in which like ref-S erence numerals designate like parts, and which will be describedin connection with the anatomical diagram shown in Fig. 1. In .; .
;.~ this embodiment, the drainage system 20 has a second ureteral ~ catheter 224, a second connector 258 connecting a downstream end : 254 of the ureteral catheter 224 to an upstream end 256 of a third drainage tube 226, with a downstream end 262 of the drain- .
.s age tube 226 being connected to a third connector or drip chamber -:
.~; .. , .` 266. The drainage bag or receptacle 30 has a sealing line 278 .~` extending between the lines 76 and 74b, with the seal lines 278, ;~ 76, 74b and 74c defining a third compartment 280. The drip cham- "
ber 266 is secured to the side wall 70 and communicates with the compartment 280 through an opening 284 in the side wall 70. The ~i drainage tube 226 is retained in its proper position above the ~ :
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bag by an opening 312 extending through the flap 110. The drip chamher has a plurality of openings 2B8 adjacent an upper end of ~ ~
the drip chamber which is covered by an air permeable filter 292 `
... to vent the drip chamber and compartment 280. The bag 30 has a :;~
drain tube 322 communicating with a lower end of the compartment ~
280 and having an outer end removably positioned in a pouch 326 ~ :
,- secured to an outer surface of the side wall 70. The drain tube ,;.~. . :
~ 25 3~2 is releasably closed by a clamp 330, and is movable between .. . .
~;~ first and second positions, as previously described. The bag 30 also has a plurality of vertically spaced indicia I'' on the side . wall 70 for determining the volume of urine collected in the . third comparbment 280.
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~5~ 39 The second ureteral catheter 224 associated with the ~:. third compartment 280 of the bag 30 operates similar to the first ureteral catheter 24 in draining urine. In this case, the second 'f.~', '~ ureteral catheter 224 is threaded through the urethra U, the bladder B, and into the other ureter Ur2, such that the drainage eyes of the second ureteral catheter 224 are located in the ure-ter Ur2 or the renal pelvis R2. Accordingly, urine drains through the drainage eyes and drainage lumen of the second ureteral cathe-; ~er 224, through the connector 258 and the drainaye lumen of the -. 10 third drainage tube 226, and the third drip chamber 266 into thei~ ; third compartment 280 for collection~ Accordingly, urine from ~:; one kidney Kl drains into the first compartment B0, urine from the other kidney K2 drains into the third compartment 280, and ~:. residual urine drains from the bladder B into the sacond CQmpart-; 15 ment 82, with the Foley catheter also being utilized to stabilize ,; .
the ureteral catheters, as previously described. Thus, during a ~:~ partial differential study the relat:ive quantities of urine drained from the kidneys Kl and K2 may be readily determined by . ~
.--. viewing the urine collected in the compartments 80 and 280, or by , 20 the indicia I or I" associated with the compartments 80 and 280.
~ The foregoing detailed description is given for clear- ~
-~. ness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should ~ .
be understood therefrom, as modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art. For example~ it is apparent that the ,",.,~ , , ~; 25 li~uid drainage system described in connection with Fig. 1 may .~ utilize a pair of ureteral catheters to drain urine from the ure-ters Url and Ur2, without draining urine from the bladder B, if .:. desired.
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Claims (2)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A liquid drainage system for drainage of urine from different sources in a patient, comprising:
a flexible receptacle having first and second sepa-rate compartments;
first and second urine drainage tubes having drain-age lumens;
means for connecting a downstream end of the first and second tubes to the receptacle with the drainage lumens in the drainage tubes separately communicating with the first and second compartments;
a ureteral catheter having a drainage lumen, a drainage eye communicating with the drainage lumen adjacent an upstream end of the ureteral catheter for placement in the patient's uretert, and a downstream end connected to an upstream end of the first drainage tube with the drainage lumen of the ureteral catheter communicating with the drainage lumen of the first drainage tube; and a urinary catheter having a drainage lumen, a drainage eye communicating with the drainage lumen adjacent an upstream end of the urinary catheter for placement in the patient's bladder, a retention member adjacent the upstream end of the urinary catheter, and a downstream end connected to an upstream end of the second drainage tube with the drainage lumen of the urinary catheter in communication with the drainage lumen of the second drainage tube, whereby urine from the patient's ureter and bladder are simultaneously collected in said separate compartments.

2 The drainage system of claim 1 wherein the recep-tacle includes a third compartment, including a third drainage tube and means for connecting a downstream end of the third drain-age tube to the receptacle with the drainage lumen of the third drainage tube in separate communication with the third compart-ment, and including a second ureteral catheter having a drainage lumen, a drainage eye communicating with the drainage lumen adja-cent an upstream end of the second ureteral catheter, and a down-stream end connected to the third drainage tube with the drainage lumen of the second ureteral catheter in communication with the drainage lumen of the third tube.