Implantable drainage device with planar dual curved portion

Abstract

In a first embodiment, implantable drainage devices with a curvilinear portion are provided, such as stents or drainage catheters formed as a tubular member having a curvilinear portion comprising one or more pairs of adjacent bends curved in opposite directions. The drainage devices house a drainage lumen that may extend through the curvilinear portion, which may be dimensioned to retain the drainage device within a body vessel and provide a desired fluid conductance through a tortuous portion of the drainage lumen within the curvilinear portion. The curvilinear portion may include two or more planar bends facing in opposite directions. The drainage device is preferably a biliary stent or drainage catheter constructed of thermoplastic material resilient enough to permit the bends of the curvilinear portion to straighten in response to placement of a guidewire through the drainage lumen, and to permit a portion of the tubular member to again form the plurality of bends when the guidewire is removed from the drainage lumen. In a second embodiment, methods of implanting the drainage devices within a body vessel, such as a biliary duct, are provided. For example, the drainage device may be a biliary stent implanted within the Papilla of Vater (e.g, within a biliary or pancreatic duct) without traversing the Sphincter of Oddi.