Manometric pressure sensing and liquid evacuating device for intraoperative hiatal hernia repair

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWING The combined pressure-sensing and liquid-evacuating device 10 includes a conventional nasal gastric suction tube which is provided with a closed tip 12 and a plurality of liquid receiving openings 14.
The upper end of the tube is connected to a conventional Gonco suction pump which evacuates the stomatc and intermittently empties the contents externally of the stomach.
The evacuation leaves the stomach in a deflated condition, approximately 20 to 25 millimeters of mercury below its normal pressure.
Secured to the wall of the nasal gastric suction tube is a smaller diameter pressure-sensing tube 16 having a closed end 18 and a pressure-sensing side opening 20.
Preferably the pressure-sensing tube terminates within the nasal gastric suction tube for ease of insertion and removal of the combined tubes.
Preferably the pressure-sensing tube is of a highly flexible soft material, such as silastic.
Suitable combined tubes which can be modified to form this invention for pressure studies are called Anderson tubes manufactured by Anderson Products, Oyster Bay, N.
Y.
The standard Anderson tube comes with an open tip within the larger tube.
Thus, the conversion requires sealing or closing the tip of the smaller tube and providing a pressure-sensing hole in the side wall of the smaller tube.
Preferably the side opening 20 is located 8 centimeters (but other known distances will suffice) from the tip of the larger tube so that the surgeon can determine the location of the side opening 20 merely by observing, either by eye or by touch, the location of the tip within the stomach and esophageal region.
In a preferred operation the nasal gastric suction tube is connected to a Gonco suction pipe while the pressure-sensing tube is connected through a pressure transducer to a strip chart recording.
A perfusion pump is also connected to the pressure-sensing tube to perfuse liquid downwardly through the pressure-sensing tube to maintain the opening 20 in a continuously flushed condition