[54] ENDOTHELIUM STRIPPER AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME

[75] Inventor: Mohamed E. M. Salem, Moharem Bake , Egypt

ABSTRACT

A surgical tool for stripping the endothelium from varicose veins. A smooth probe member surmounts an elongate flexible wire and is inserted into the vein and withdrawn there from as a preparatory step. The smooth probe member is then removed from the wire member, and a smooth head member of frusto conical configuration is then mounted to the distal end of the wire. A plurality of barbed head members are then secured to the smooth head member, in longitudinal alignment with one another, distal to the smooth head member. The head members can be rigidly or flexibly interconnected to one another. The barbs on the barbed head members are swept back to facilitate their insertion into the vein and such barb members engage and strip the endothelium when the head members are withdrawn from the vein. The smooth head member is the leading head member during such withdrawal.