Patent ID: 8808359

Claim:
A method of catheterizing a patient, comprising: providing a catheter system including a first catheter having a shaft with a proximal end and a distal end, a second catheter having a shaft with a proximal end and a distal end, and a releasable linking device; linking the first catheter and the second catheter together in a side-by-side configuration near the proximal ends of the catheters with the releasable linking device and preventing longitudinal movement of the first catheter and the second catheter with respect to each other; wherein the first catheter and the second catheter are linked together by placing an inner lumen of a split-tube linking device around a proximal section of the shaft of the first catheter and a proximal section of the shaft of the second catheter, the inner lumen being sized and configured to hold the proximal section of the shaft of the first catheter and the proximal section of the shaft of the second catheter with sufficient friction that the catheter system can be advanced as a unit without any relative longitudinal movement between the first catheter and the second catheter, the split-tube linking device having a longitudinal split through a wall of the split-tube linking device that connects the inner lumen with an exterior of the split-tube linking device; inserting the distal end of the first catheter and the distal end of the second catheter into the patient; advancing the catheter system as a unit.