This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Device reduces prep time for obese patients in cath lab
The KangarooWeb helps reposition the pannus, improving femoral site access in obese and overweight patients for cath procedures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The KangarooWeb, a device that improves femoral site access by retracting the abdominal panniculus adiposus away from the groin area, has been developed by an interventional cardiologist to assist in the treatment of obese patients in the catheterization lab.
Developed by John A. McKnight, MD, and Milamy Partners LLC, the KangarooWeb can save up to 90% in the preparation time needed for obese patients, according to Milamy Partners. The device has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and a patent is pending. Milamy Partners received its device classification listing from the FDA on April 8 and subsequently registered as a device manufacturer on May 5.
“The first time we used the KangarooWeb in the operating room we were able to reduce our patient preparation time by over nine minutes,” said McKnight, cardiologist at Morgantown Internal Medicine Group Inc., Morgantown, W.Va. “We can set up the patient for catheterization in about 30 seconds, and no patient has ever complained.”
McKnight said he does about 1,000 procedures a year, and many of the patients are overweight.
Two-piece device
The device consists of a radiolucent base that the patient lies upon. The cleats on the sides fasten the web, which acts as a strap that pulls the pannus upward toward the head and out of the way of the arterial access site.
McKnight said that gaining arterial access in the groin in a patient with a large pannus can be challenging. Before developing the device, he used tape to reposition the pannus, but taping takes a long time and is not very effective.
“During a long day in the cath lab, the idea came to me that if there was a device to pull the pannus out of the way, my day would be easier. The day after I originally thought of the idea, I saw a patient in the office who complained about tape burns over their belly where tape had been applied to pull their pannus out of the way,” he said.
“We have even used the device to pull sheaths in very obese patients with good success,” said McKnight. He said that an obese patient can be set up in the cath lab in about 30 seconds, and that no patient has complained when the device has been used.
The device is “very low tech but serves a need in a very quick and easy way,” he said. – by Suzanne Bryla