A medical catheter assembly including a removable inner sleeve. In one embodiment,
the assembly is a low profile percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) device
and comprises a body, a clamp, a feeding tube, a cap and an inner sleeve assembly.
The body includes a base portion and a sleeve portion, the base portion being dimensioned
to engage the skin of a patient and having a transverse bore, the sleeve portion
extending upwardly from the base portion and having a longitudinal slot aligned
with the transverse bore and a transverse slot intersecting the longitudinal bore.
The clamp, which is slidably mounted on the base portion and across the transverse
slot of the sleeve, comprises a plate having a transverse opening. The transverse
opening has a wide region and a narrow region, the two regions being alternately
alignable with the longitudinal bore to open and to close, respectively, the feeding
tube. The feeding tube has a distal end adapted to be anchored to the inside of
a patient and a proximal end inserted up through the base portion and the sleeve
portion, including the transverse opening of the clamp situated within the sleeve,
and then inverted over the top edge of the sleeve. The cap is then mounted on top
of the sleeve so as to secure the inverted end of the catheter to the exterior
of the sleeve. The cap is provided with an opening through which access to the
catheter may be gained. An inner sleeve, sized to engage the inside surface of
the feeding tube, is removably inserted through the cap and the feeding tube, the
inner sleeve having a proximal end to which a tubular fitting is secured. Food
and/or medications are dispensed to the patient through the fitting and the inner
sleeve and, in this manner, prevent clogging of the feeding tube.