Patent ID: 6890342

Claim:
A method for closing a wound in a blood vessel of a patient, comprising: providing a guidewire extending through the wound and out of the patient; providing a catheter adapted to accommodate the guidewire and comprising a lumen, the catheter having at least one hole formed through a side of the catheter, the at least one hole communicating with the lumen; providing a source of suction; placing the lumen into communication with the source of suction; providing a retractor having a plurality of elongate retractor arms; coupling the retractor to the catheter so that a distal end of each retractor arm is positioned proximal of the hole a distance at least the same as a thickness of a wall of the blood vessel; mounting a hemostatic material onto an outer surface of the catheter; threading the catheter over the guidewire; advancing the catheter and retractor over the guidewire until blood is drawn through the at least one hole in the lumen; actuating the retractor to at least partially provide an access path to an outer wall of the blood vessel surrounding the wound; advancing the hemostatic material over the outer surface of the catheter into contact with the outer wall of the blood vessel; and removing the retractor, catheter and guidewire.