| abstract |
The present invention is directed to a device for reducing the risk of infection and/or clotting associated with the establishment and/or maintenance of fluid communication between apparatus external to the body and the interior of the body. The device includes a first tube insertable into the body. A second tube is disposed within the first tube, the second tube having a distal end portion insertable into the body and extending through an opening defined at the distal end of the first tube. The first and second tubes define therebetween a longitudinally coaxially disposed channel which establishes a fluid communication path for a first fluid. The first tube has one or more predeterminately-sized capillary apertures defined therein and predeterminately sized so as to predeterminately control the flow of a first fluid through the aperture, so that the first fluid remains substantially on and along the outer surface of the first tube so as to coat the outer surface of the first tube with the first fluid, thereby creating an anti-infective barrier which surrounds the intravascular device as it lies within the body. The second tube may also or alternatively include apertures for the selective coating and/or irrigation of the interior of the second tube to prevent infection or clotting therein. |