Indian Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 1985-86; 4 :75 -76

Semidisposable Venous and Arterial Cannulae SOLOMON VICTOR*~ M KABEER +

ABStRACt : Semidisposable stainless steel venous and arterial cannulae tips used in open heart operations are described, emphasising their economic advantage over the imported disposable ones.

KEY WORDS : equipment design, extracorporeal circulation, heart surgery, surgical equipment

I N T R O D U C T I O N

The escalating cost of cardiac surgery needs to be contained by cost-effective techniques and gadgets. In an effort to minimise the re- curring expenditure on imported venous and arterial cannulae, we have designed indigenous semidisposable ones which are substantially economical.

T H E C A N N U L A E

Venous cannulae

These are made of stainless steel with internal diameter varying from 4 mm to 12 mm (Fig. 1). The cannulae have a right angled bend. The venous limb is bevelled for ease of insertion. The edges are rounded to avoid injury to the intima. A side hole provides access to venous

"Additional Professor, +Assistant Professor.

From the Departments of Cardiothoracic Surgery" and Anaesthesiology +, Institute of Cardiology, Government General hospital, Madras, India.

Address for correspondence : Dr. Solomon Victor, 15, East Street, Kilpauk Garden Colony, Madras 600 010, India.

Fig. 1 Venous cannulae of different sizes showing bevelled tips, rounded edges and side holes

drainage, should the end get occluded by a collapsed vein.

The tubing limb has a mount for secure grip of ~" or 3/8" tubing. The tubings are taken from the perfusion custom pack and discarded after single use. A raised flange just outside the bend serves as a marker.

Two Stage Atrio-caval Cannula

The addition of an extra hole closer to the right angled bend (Fig. 2) converts a caval carmula into a two stage atrio-caval cannula.

76 Victor and Kabeer

Fig, 2 Two stage atrio-caval cannulae

Arterial Cannulae

These cannulae tips vary from 4 mm to 10 mm in diameter. Initially straight ones were used (Fig. 3). Though they are easier to introduce than bent cannulae, the wall of aorta collapses over the tip and increases the resistance to flow. Bent cannulae (Fig. 4) avoid this problem. With practise they can be introduced easily. A marker line on the tubing limb facilitates orientation. This limb has a mount for ~ "or 3/8'' tubing, depending on the cannula size.

Fig. 3 Straight arterial cannulae

tial savings--probably enough to procure a volume- cycled ventilator in a cardiac unit performing 500 open heart operations a year.

C O M M E N T

By curtailing the recurrent expenditure on imported venous and arterial cannulae, these semi- disposable metallic versions can generate substan- Fig. 4 Bent arterial cannulae of various sizes