Patent ID: 8187627

Claim:
A dressing delivery system for an internal wound, comprising: an elongate sleeve sized for percutaneous insertion in a patient, the sleeve extending about a longitudinal major axis and having a generally rigid portion at a proximal end thereof and at least one foldable portion at a distal end thereof, the foldable portion extending proximally from a distal tip of the sleeve and comprising a preferentially-bending portion that is flexible relative to the proximal rigid portion so as to preferentially bend when the sleeve is exposed to a longitudinal compressive force, the distal tip of the elongate sleeve being unsupported other than by being part of the sleeve; a tubular main body extending about a major axis between a proximal end and a distal end, the elongate sleeve being slidably disposed about an outer surface of the tubular main body, and the foldable portion of the elongate sleeve being unconnected to the main body, so that longitudinal relative movement between the body and sleeve does not affect the orientation of the foldable portion of the sleeve; and a dressing disposed adjacent to and at least partially distal of the distal end of the sleeve; wherein by moving the sleeve into engagement with an internal wound so that the sleeve is subjected to a longitudinal compressive force as the distal end of the sleeve is pressed against the wound, the preferentially-bending portion bends so that the at least one foldable portion pivots about the distal tip so as to move from a first orientation in which the foldable portion is generally parallel to the major axis to a second orientation in which the foldable portion is generally transverse to the major axis so as to urge the dressing against the wound.