Abstract:
A garment for concealing a medical appliance such as a central line that is connected to a patient has a hidden pocket for storing the appliance on an inside surface of the front of the garment. The pocket has connected side and bottom edges which secure the pocket to the garment. The pocket also has a free upper edge that is positioned in spaced relationship below an opening in the front of the garment. The medical appliance can be concealed within the pocket while connected to the patient and later, when it is to be deployed, can be withdrawn from the pocket, raised above the upper edge of the pocket and withdrawn through the opening which is unobstructed above the pocket. The garment can have a second concealed opening at a lower level on one side of the garment for enabling multiple medical appliances to be connected to the patient for simultaneous use and withdrawn through openings in the garment at two different elevations. The opening can be concealed by a zipper or a cover flap.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to garments such as daywear, hospital gowns and sleepers used for concealing medical appliances connected to a patient. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Children are particularly self-conscious about medical appliances such as catheters, wires and the like that are connected to them. If ordinary clothing is used, whether in the hospital or at home, the tubes connected to the patient are often difficult for a healthcare worker or parent to reach. In addition, ordinary clothing or a nightgown is often uncomfortable and, with a catheter extending from the patient, the front of the garment must be left unbuttoned or unzipped which can cause the patient to feel chilly or uncomfortable. While garments have been provided in the past with an opening through which a catheter, for example, can be withdrawn, a visible opening draws attention to the patient&#39;s condition, which only adds to the patient&#39;s anxiety and contributes to a feeling of self-consciousness. Prior gowns often tended to make a medical appliance conspicuous, a major disadvantage since it increases the child&#39;s feeling of self-consciousness. 
     In view of these and other deficiencies, there exists a need for an improved garment that can be used by a variety of special needs patients who require a feeding tube, infusion tube or monitor such as an apnea monitor and which will conceal such medical appliances while connected to the patient so that the garment looks like an ordinary child&#39;s romper or sleeper and does not draw attention to the patient&#39;s medical condition. 
     Accordingly, the primary objective of the invention is to conceal a medical appliance that is connected to a patient by providing a garment in the nature of a gown or sleeper for a child, which looks like an ordinary garment and does not attract attention to the patient&#39;s medical condition nor expose the wires, catheters and other medical appliances that are connected to the patient yet allows easy access to such appliances when required. 
     Another more specific objective of the invention is to find a way of concealing a medical appliance and yet enable the appliance to be easily lifted from a hidden location inside and withdrawn without difficulty through a concealed opening in the garment. 
     Still another objective is to enable the medical appliances that are connected to a patient to be held in such a way by the garment that they can be accessed by a healthcare worker or parent by reaching into the garment from the outside. 
     These and other more detailed and specific objects of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following figures and detailed description which illustrate by way of example of but a few of the various forms of the invention within the scope of the appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides a garment for concealing a medical appliance such as a central line or an electrical wire used for monitoring a patient&#39;s condition. The garment includes a hidden pocket on an inside surface of the front of the garment. The pocket is secured to the garment by connected side and bottom edges. The pocket also has a free upper edge that is positioned in spaced relationship below an opening in the front of the garment so that the medical appliance can be concealed within the pocket and later, when it is to be deployed, can be withdrawn from the pocket and then raised above the upper edge of the pocket and withdrawn through the opening which is in an unobstructed position above the pocket. The garment is typically provided with one or more concealed openings on the front of the garment and one or more openings at a lower level along one side of the garment for enabling multiple medical appliances to be connected to the patient for simultaneous use and withdrawn through openings at two different elevations in the garment. A cover or closure is preferably provided on the front of the garment to conceal the opening when not in use. The opening can be closed by a zipper or a flap that is held in place at its free end by means of a fastener such as Velcro®. 
    
    
     THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a garment comprising a child&#39;s sleeper in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a partial front elevational view of one of the concealed openings in the garment of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale. 
     FIG. 3 is a partial front elevational view showing a medical appliance connected to a child patient with the garment removed for clarity. 
     FIG. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on line  4 — 4  of FIG. 2 on a slightly enlarged scale. 
     FIG. 5 is an inside view of the opening and concealed pocket of FIGS. 1,  2  and  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 4 of another form of the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a partial front elevational view of another opening that can be used in the garment in accordance with the invention. 
     FIG. 8 is another partial front elevational view of a patient showing a medical appliance connected to the patient with the garment removed. 
     FIG. 9 is a partial front elevational view of another patient showing a pair of medical appliances connected to the patient with the garment removed for clarity. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Refer now to the figures wherein the same numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views. 
     While the invention has general application to a variety of hospital and regular garments, including garments for adults as well as children, it is particularly advantageous in connection with children&#39;s garments. Accordingly, the invention will be described by way of example in connection with a child&#39;s garment such as, in this case, a child&#39;s romper indicated generally at  10  in FIG. 1 with the understanding that the invention is not in any way limited to such use and can be applied as well to a variety of adult garments or to clothing used as daytime outerwear by children or adults. The child&#39;s romper  10  has a garment body with a front  12 , arms  14  and legs  16  for a toddler or infant. The neck opening of the garment is shown at  18 . On the front or breast portion of the garment  10  are provided a pair of similar pocket assemblies  24  and  26  in accordance with the invention. Since they are the same, only the pocket assembly  24  is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 4. It includes a cover or flap  28  on the outside of the garment having a free portion  28   b  with a lower rounded edge  28   c  and an upper edge  28   d  that is secured to the garment  10  by means of stitching  31 . The flap  28  is shown in a raised position in dotted lines at  30  in FIGS. 2 and 4. At the free end of the flap  28  is a fastener  32 , which in this cases comprises a hook-and-loop fastener such as a sheet of Velcro® that is connected when the flap is closed to a second piece of Velcro®  34  secured, e.g. by stitching, to the front panel  12  of the garment  10 . While the flap  28  has been shown to be secured in place by means of Velcro®  32 ,  34 , it can be held in place in any suitable manner in the closed position by means of other kinds of fasteners such as a button  36  (FIG.  2 ). 
     Secured to the patient (FIGS. 3 and 4) with the aid of adhesive patch  42  is a medical appliance  40 , in this case a Hickman catheter  44  that extends from the front of the patient&#39;s body. FIG. 3 shows the patient with a catheter  44  surgically connected to the upper portion of the chest and held in place by an adhesive patch or other dressing  42  with the garment removed for clarity of illustration. The catheter  44  is stored when not in use in a compartment  46  of a pocket  48  that is secured to the inside wall of the garment  10 . As shown in FIG. 5, which illustrates the inside surface of the front  12  of the garment  10 , the pocket  48  includes a bottom edge  48   b  and side edges  48   c  and  48   d , all of which are secured, for example, by means of stitching  50  to the front wall  12  of the garment  10 . In FIGS. 4 and 5, the Hickman catheter  44  is shown in a coiled condition as it appears when concealed within the pocket  48 . Spaced above the pocket  48  (FIG. 4) is an opening, in this case a horizontally disposed slit-like opening  52  through which the catheter  44  can be withdrawn when it is to be deployed. The edges of the opening  52  are preferably hemmed and include horizontally disposed, parallel, laterally extending upper and lower hemmed edges  54  and  56  (FIG.  5 ). 
     The pocket  48  has a horizontally disposed free upper edge  48 a which is spaced below the opening  52  by a predetermined distance  58 . For most purposes, the spacing  58  between the opening  52  and the free upper edge  48   a  of the pocket  48  is typically from about ¼ inch to about ½ inches. The spacing  58  enables the healthcare worker or parent to easily reach through the opening  52  and grasp the medical appliance  44 , lift it from the compartment  46  within the pocket  48 , and withdraw it through the opening  52  which, as can be seen especially in FIG. 4, is unobstructed by any part of the pocket  48 . Thus, the invention makes the catheter  44  easy to reach and also facilitates its removal through the opening  52  to a deployed position since no portion of the pocket  48  gets in the way of the opening  52  or the fingers of the healthcare worker when reaching through the opening  52 . The healthcare worker can also reach through the opening  52  into the space between the garment  10  and the patient&#39;s chest and, if necessary, reach up or down or in either direction from side to side to get a grip on or locate some portion of the medical appliance  40  without the pocket  48  being in the way of the person&#39;s fingers. 
     To illustrate another application of the invention, FIG. 8 shows a another medical appliance secured to the abdominal wall of a child with the aid of a plastic disc  42 . The appliance in this case is a gastrostomy feeding tube  44 , sometimes known as a MICKEY®, that is passed through the abdominal wall on the left side of the patient&#39;s body into the stomach. The appliance  44  in this case is secured to the wall of the body with the aid of the plastic supporting disc  42 . 
     Refer now to FIGS. 1 and 6 which illustrates another form of the invention in which the horizontal opening  80  is provided with a horizontally extending zipper that includes zipper teeth  82  and  84  that are secured conventionally to the upper and lower edges of the opening between them. In this case, no flap such as the flap  28  is provided. When the medical appliance is to be deployed, the zipper  80  is opened so as to provide a horizontally extending slit-like opening that is separated by means of vertical spacing  86  above the top edge  48   a  of the pocket  48 . Again, the spacing  86  is typically about one-quarter to about one-and-one-half inches, but is most preferably about one-half inch. This enables the healthcare worker to reach easily either into the pocket  48  or into the space  13  between the patient and the front  12  of the garment  10 . For purposes of illustration, it will be assumed that the medical appliance  40  in FIG. 6 is a feeding tube  44  which is secured to the patient through a supporting disc  42 . When the feeding tube  44  is to be deployed, the opening  80  is unzipped and the healthcare worker can then reach in through the opening into the pocket  48 , remove the tube stored at  44   a , withdraw it as shown at  44   b  and attach it to a drip feeding appliance  44   c  to initiate gastrostomy feeding. 
     Refer now to FIGS. 7 and 9 which illustrate another aspect of the invention. In this case, an aperture shown generally at  60  is provided in the garment at a lower elevation, i.e., somewhat below, and typically in the case of an infant about two to six inches below, the pocket assemblies  24  and  26 . Each aperture  60  in this case comprises a vertical slit on the side of the garment  10  having vertically disposed edges  64  and  66  with an opening  62  between them that can be covered, except when the opening  62  is in use, by means of a flap  68  that is secured to the front wall of the garment  10  by means of a fastener such as a button  70  that is sewn to the front  12  of the garment  10 . The opening  62  can be used at the same time as one of the pocket assemblies  24 ,  26 . Although the opening  62  has general application, it is shown by way of example as an opening for a pair of insulated electrical conductors  72 ,  74  that are fastened to leads on the patient&#39;s chest as shown in FIG.  9 . The insulated electrical conductors  72 ,  74  are withdrawn through the opening  62  and are connected to a plug  75  outside of the garment which is in turn connected to an apnea monitor  76 . Thus, while the pocket assemblies  24  and  26  are in use, the opening  60  can also be used simultaneously for other purposes and for other kinds of medical appliances. When not in use, the flap or cover  68  can be secured in a closed position (FIG. 1) by means of the button  70  so that the opening  60  is not apparent. 
     The invention is useful in connection with a variety of medical appliances such as intravenous for fluid infusion or blood transfusion, for gastrostomy tubes, for central venous catheters for long-term intravenous infusions of blood, medicine or total parenteral nutrition, as well as for electrical conductors used in monitoring vital signs, for apnea monitoring or for heart monitoring. 
     While a Hickman catheter has been illustrated in FIG. 3, the catheter  44  can comprise any of a variety of catheters such as a Port-A-Cath® which is surgically placed under the skin and accessed for infusion. One example of an infusion catheter is a parenteral catheter for administering glucose solutions. The invention is also useful with a double lumen catheter. 
     The invention is particularly beneficial for pediatric use, but it is equally useful for adults. It can be used by hospital patients or in clinics or by patients that are in their homes. It is suitable both for day wear as well as for night wear. It is particularly useful as clothing that children wear during the day. It can be used as a top garment or a jumper, i.e. a garment with arm and leg openings but with no pant legs. In addition, it can be used as a child&#39;s body suit in which a separate pair of pants is used. 
     The use of the invention will be described in a typical application with reference to FIGS. 1-5. After the patient has dressed and left the hospital room for a period of time, say two or three hours, it may be necessary to perform an infusion. To carry this out, the flap  28  is raised first. The healthcare worker then reaches through the opening  52 , lifts the catheter  44  from the pocket  48 , and withdraws it through the opening  52 . A cap (not shown) covering the end of the catheter  44  is then taken off and the catheter which has been withdrawn as shown at  44   b  in FIG. 4 is then connected to the infusion device or bag  45  (FIG. 3) in a conventional manner. The infusion is then conducted for from several minutes to several hours or, if chemotherapy is being conducted, infusion can be administered for a matter of days. Following administration of the infusion, the catheter  44  is placed back in the pocket  48  and the flap  28  is then lowered to the closed position. After this is done, the catheter is so inconspicuous that no one observing the patient will know that it is there. The device shown in FIG. 6 is used in a similar manner except that it is only necessary to open the zipper  80  since no flap is present. 
     The invention provides several other advantages. For example, the flap  28  prevents the patient, especially in the case of children, from having access to the catheter  44 . In addition, when the catheter or electrical conductors are not in use, the patient appears perfectly (i.e., “normal”) because, with the appliance stored inside the garment, it is not apparent by the person viewing the garment that a medical appliance is connected to the patient. Moreover, the invention is very comfortable and does not interfere with sleeping or ordinary daytime activities of the patient. It is also safer than prior garments since children cannot gain access to the catheter or wire, which in the past they have sometimes pulled out of their bodies. The invention also makes it less likely that the catheter or leads connected to the patient can get caught on furniture or other article outside of the body. In addition, garments in accordance with the invention can be used as ordinary clothing after the child returns from the hospital and is primarily cared for by a parent or no longer needs a medical appliance. It can also be “handed down” to other children that have no medical disability. 
     Many variations of the present invention within the scope of the appended claims will be apparent to those skilled in the art once the principles described herein are understood.