Patent ID: 8679002

Claim:
An instrument for confirming a position of an indwelling gastrostomy catheter which comprises a tubular part for extending through a hole formed between a surface of skin of a patient's body and an inner surface of a stomach wall of the patient's body, and extending from outside the patient's body to the inner surface of said stomach wall, and a stomach-internal fixed part capable of linking to a tip end of said tubular part and arranged at the inner surface of said stomach wall, the fixed part having a through-hole adapted to receive the tubular part therethrough, said instrument for confirming the position of an indwelling gastrostomy catheter comprising: a fiberscope for observing the inner surface of the stomach wall adapted to extend through the through-hole of said tubular part so that a tip end of the fiberscope projects from the through-hole of said stomach-internal fixed part; a protective cover having a closed distal end and adapted to pass through said gastrostomy catheter while covering said fiberscope, the fiberscope being removably received in the protective cover; a linear member connectable to an outer periphery surface of the protective cover at a closed distal end of said protective cover so that when the distal end of said protective cover projects from the through-hole of said stomach-internal fixed part, the distal end of said protective cover flexes with said fiberscope to change an observation direction of the fiberscope by direct manual manipulation of a proximal free end of said linear member; and a lumen for passage of the linear member within the protective cover, wherein the protective cover includes a lower end region having a length defined as a distance between the closed end and an entrance to the lumen, the length selected to allow the instrument to flex the protective cover with the fiberscope located within the protective cover such that the closed distal end can be oriented to face a location of the hole in the inner surface of the stomach wall through which the tubular part of the gastrostomy catheter extends.