Ventricular catheter

A ventricular catheter (VCA) is a medical device that is used to treat hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess fluid accumulates in the brain. K.'s catheter is inserted into the lateral ventricle of the brain and is used to drain fluid from the brain.

K.'s catheter consists of a flexible tube that is inserted through a small incision in the skull. The tube passes through the lateral ventricle and exits through another opening in the skull, where it connects to the valve drainage system. The valved drainage system allows fluid to flow freely from the brain but prevents fluid from flowing back into the brain.

The procedure for installing a catheter K. is usually performed under general anesthesia. After installing the catheter, the doctor can monitor its operation and adjust its position in the brain.

The use of a catheter is one of the most effective methods of treating hydrocephalus, as it allows you to quickly and effectively remove excess fluid from the brain. However, like any medical procedure, the K. catheter has its own risks and side effects, so before using it, it is necessary to conduct a thorough examination of the patient and choose the appropriate treatment method.

A catheter is a long flexible tube with a head at one end and a threaded part attached to it at the other. The inner diameter of the tube is usually no more than 1 mm. Catheters are used for flushing kidney stones; during bronchoscopy; for intravenous administration of fluids, for bloodletting, etc. The literature describes a brain operation through the urethra performed by the French anatomist Lab in 1890. But these operations became most widespread abroad (Bruno Thome first performed a puncture of the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle in 1903). After the operations, the so-called Duncan intraventricular valve system began to develop.

A slavage catheter is a drainage tube that is a perforated structure. At one end of the catheter there is a sterile plastic clamp or adapter with a mandrel, through which medications are taken from the syringe for further drainage manipulations. The other end of the catheter is flexible and can have a length from 30 cm to 2 m. An important point of the clavage catheter is the presence of holes of different diameters directly along its length, forming a filter that distributes the drug throughout the tract and prevents rapid emptying of the drug solution. A catheter is connected to the system for intravenous infusions. To select the size of the catheter and filter it on its flexible tube, two special adapters are used - a Luer connector and a Nelaton connector.