Tools for irrigating a wound site or body cavity during surgery are well known in the art. Tools that seek to combine both irrigation and suction have also been attempted in the past. Unfortunately, these have suffered from so many drawbacks that have prevented their commercial success that separate irrigation and suction tools are commonly used today throughout the world during surgery.
One type of irrigation tool commonly used during surgery is referred to as a “turkey baster” or bulb syringe that has a flexible compressible bulb attached to a tube having a nozzle at its free end through which irrigation fluid sucked into the bulb from a pan is discharged from the nozzle when the bulb is squeezed. Unfortunately, use of a bulb syringe to irrigate tissue of a wound site or body cavity during surgery is neither efficient nor expeditious. To draw irrigation fluid into the bulb syringe, the bulb must be compressed by squeezing before the nozzle is placed into the container holding irrigation fluid. After the nozzle is placed into the irrigation fluid container, the bulb is released sucking irrigation fluid through the nozzle, into the tube and into the bulb. Sometimes this process needs to be repeated multiple times, to effectively prime the bulb syringe, in order to charge the bulb syringe with enough irrigation fluid for use. After adequately charging the bulb syringe with irrigation fluid, the bulb syringe must be manipulated with its nozzle directed toward the site of the tissue or body cavity sought to be irrigated. Squeezing the bulb then discharges irrigation fluid from the nozzle onto the tissue or into the body cavity. Once the charge of irrigation fluid in the bulb has been discharged, the whole time consuming process of recharging the bulb syringe with additional irrigation fluid must be undertaken.
One type of aspiration tool or suction tool commonly used to aspirate or suction fluid and debris from tissue and within a body cavity during surgery is known as the Yankauer sucker. The Yankauer sucker has enjoyed widespread commercial success largely because it is inexpensive, simple, lightweight, hand-held, and easy to manipulate during use and operation. The Yankauer sucker is a suction tool with an elongate tube having one end that is hand-held by a user that is attached to a suction line and another end that defines a wand with a nozzle that is manipulated by a user holding the tool so fluid and debris can be sucked into the nozzle and transported through a passage in its tube to the suction line during use and operation.
During surgery, it is common for a surgeon to have to irrigate and aspirate dozens of times. This requires a surgeon to either hold an irrigation tool in one hand and a suction tool in the other hand or requires the surgeon to alternately drop and switch tools as needed, which consumes valuable time either way. While the suction tool can be continuously used to apply suction to aspirate fluid or debris from tissue or from within a body cavity, continuous irrigation fluid flow from a bulb aspirator is simply not possible.
What is needed is an irrigation tool capable of substantially continuous irrigation flow. What is also needed is a combination irrigation and suction tool. What is also needed is a tool of hand-held, simple and economical construction that is capable of providing both irrigation and suction without having to remove the tool from the tissue or body cavity.