Catheter Connectors in Shunt Surgery: Straight, L-Type and Y-Type

DESU makes three catheter connectors for shunt surgery. The straight catheter connector joins two catheter lines end to end. The L-type connector joins catheter parts at a right angle and guides the catheter without kinking or clogging. The Y-type connector is three-way, joining two shunts to one peritoneal catheter or giving one shunt two outlets or two inlets.

All three are accessories within the DESU neurosurgical catheters and shunt systems range, and all are CE marked and manufactured under ISO 13485. Whether a connector is used in a given case, and where, is the surgeon’s decision, made according to the instructions for use (IFU).

What does a catheter connector do in a shunt?

A shunt is not a single tube. It is a pathway assembled from separate parts: a ventricular or lumbar catheter at the inflow end, a valve, a peritoneal catheter at the outflow end, and sometimes an antisiphon device. Each junction between two parts has to carry cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from one section to the next without leaking, separating or narrowing.

Connectors are the small components that make some of those junctions. Their shape sets the geometry of the joint, and DESU offers three shapes:

• Straight: the two catheter lines continue in the same direction.
• L-type (right-angled): the line turns through a right angle at the joint.
• Y-type: three ports, so two lines merge into one or one line divides into two.

What is a straight catheter connector?

The straight catheter connector is a subsidiary accessory used to connect different catheter parts during surgery when needed. It provides a straight connection between two catheter lines and is used as a connection element with DESU shunt and catheter kits.

In practice, that makes it the simplest of the three: it is the part to reach for wherever two lengths of catheter need to be joined in line, with no change of direction.

What is an L-type (right-angled) connector?

The L-type catheter connector is a subsidiary accessory used to guide the ventricular or peritoneal catheter, when needed, without causing kinking and clogging, and to connect different catheter parts together during surgery. It orients the catheter at an appropriate angle and is the part included in DESU shunt kits as the right-angled connector, where it organizes the connection between the ventricular catheter and the valve.

The reason for a fixed angle is easy to see at the burr hole. The ventricular catheter leaves the skull roughly perpendicular to the surface and then has to turn to run beneath the scalp toward the valve. Soft silicone bent sharply on its own can kink; a right-angled connector takes the turn in a defined shape instead.

For a broader overview, see the key advantages of L-type catheter connectors.

What is a Y-type connector?

The Y-type catheter connector is a three-way accessory with three uses:

• Combining two shunts with a single peritoneal catheter.
• Providing output from one shunt to two peritoneal catheters.
• Providing two ventricular catheter inputs into one shunt.

In each case the connector either merges two flows into one line or divides one flow into two. Whether any of these configurations suits a patient is a surgical decision.

How do the three connectors compare?

Where do connectors appear inside DESU kits?

The right-angled connector is the one that comes inside kits. It is included in:

• Defit ventriculoperitoneal shunt kits, with the Defit valve, a 23 cm ventricular catheter, a 120 cm peritoneal catheter and a stylet.
• Decurve ventriculoperitoneal shunt kits, with the same catheters and stylet.
• Depus ventriculoperitoneal shunt kits, with the same catheters and stylet.
• The ventricular catheter kit, with a 23 cm ventricular catheter and a stylet.
• The ventriculoperitoneal catheter kit, with the ventricular and peritoneal catheters and a stylet.

The straight and Y-type connectors are not part of these kits. They are separate accessories, used with DESU shunt and catheter kits when the surgeon needs them. A department that wants them available should stock them as their own line items.

One more connector in the range is easy to confuse with these: the Luer Lock connector in the lumbar drainage catheter kit. It joins a lumbar drainage catheter to an external drainage line, not one shunt component to another.

How is a connector different from an antisiphon device?

Both sit in line with the shunt, but they do different jobs. A connector joins parts. The antisiphon device is intended to prevent the siphon effect that can occur when the peritoneal catheter moves from a horizontal to a vertical position, closing when the siphon effect occurs to help prevent overdrainage. It is an option on Defit, Decurve and Depus ventriculoperitoneal kits, and kits that include it carry a reference code ending in “-ASD”.

What should buyers check when stocking connectors?

• Which kits on the shelf already contain a right-angled connector, so separate L-type stock is planned around real need.
• Whether surgeons’ preference cards call for straight or Y-type connectors, which are ordered separately.
• That orders name the connector type in full (straight, L-type or Y-type) to avoid substitution errors.
• That the IFU for each connector is available to the OR team.

Talk to a DESU product specialist

For product codes, IFU copies or help planning connector stock alongside DESU shunt and catheter kits, contact DESU’s product specialists at sales@desu.tr, through the contact page, or request a quote.