Needle shield with transparency maintaining coating

Abstract

A device for holding a heparin lock secured to a catheter that has been previously disposed through a body portion and into an artery of a patient. The device has a cover having a wall constructed of generally flexible material. The wall includes a face having a continuous periphery and an aperture off-set from the continuous periphery. The wall additionally has a generally oval-shaped body integrally secured to the face along a substantial portion of the continuous periphery. The face and the oval-shaped body may include flanges secured at a lowermost portion thereof. The inside surface of the wall may be coated with a composition of matter that maintains the transparency of a transparent wall. The wall may also include one or more openings that are covered with one or more air permeable sheet members which are impenetrable by a liquid but allow vapor and moisture to pass through from the insides of the oval-shaped body when in a covering relation to a catheter in a body portion of a patient. A method for holding a heparin lock secured to a catheter that has been previously disposed through a body portion and into an artery of a patient. The method includes forming a hollow generally elongated cover having a face with an aperture, inserting a heparin lock into the aperture to substantially seal off the aperture, and securing the cover to the body portion to totally enclose the catheter while the heparin lock remains slidably lodged within the aperture.