Patent ID: 8246535

Claim:
Bending instrument for an endoscope comprising a tubular part having an internal through-hole extending to a tip end, and an intra-stomach fixed part joined to the tip end of the tubular part in a state in which the tip end of the through-hole of the tubular part is open and which is provided with an engagement part in the vicinity of the tip end of the through-hole; said instrument is used when an endoscope is inserted into a gastrostomy catheter which is indwelling in a gastrostomy hole in a state in which the tubular part is positioned in the gastrostomy hole formed between the surface of a patient's skin and the inner surface of the stomach wall and also in which the intra-stomach fixed part is positioned inside the stomach; said bending instrument for an endoscope being characterized in that it comprises: a sheath which can pass inside the gastrostomy catheter together with the endoscope in a state in which it covers the endoscope, and which has a light-transmissive window part formed at its tip end; and a bending member including a fixed part which is attached to the tip end outer periphery of the sheath in a state in which it cannot move to the base end side of the sheath and which can pass inside the gastrostomy catheter together with the sheath; a sliding part which is slidably attached further to the base end side of the sheath than the portion where the fixed part is attached, and which can pass through the through-hole of the gastrostomy catheter, and is configured to engage the engagement part of the intra-stomach fixed part so as not to be able to go past the intra-stomach fixed part; and a linking part which links the fixed part and the sliding part, controlling the gap between the fixed part and the sliding part so that it does not exceed a specified length; wherein the tip end portion of the sliding part is able to protrude outward beyond the engagement part, and when the endoscope is pulled out from the gastrostomy catheter together with the sheath from a state in which the endoscope covered by the sheath passes inside the gastrostomy catheter and the tip end portion of the sliding part projects outward from the engagement part, a resistance-imparting projection which temporarily engages with the engagement part so as to offer resistance when the tip end portion of the sliding part goes past the engagement part.