1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical devices for enhancing properties of tissue repaired or joined by surgical staples and, more particularly, to surgical devices suitable for performing circular anastomosis of hollow organs and methods for enhancing properties of tissue repaired or joined by surgical staples.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Anastomosis is the surgical joining of separate hollow organ sections. The site of the attachment is also sometimes called an anastomosis. Typically, an anastomosis procedure follows surgery in which a diseased or defective section of a hollow organ is removed and the remaining end sections are to be joined. Depending on the desired anastomosis procedure, the end sections may be joined by either circular, end-to-end, end-to-side or side-to-side organ reconstruction methods.
End-to-end anastomosis is generally performed using surgical staples. The staples are usually left in the patient. In a circular anastomosis procedure, the two ends of the organ sections may be joined by means of a stapling instrument which drives a circular array of staples through the organ end sections and simultaneously cores and removes any tissue located interior of the driven circular array of staples to free a tubular passage.
In some applications of a circular anastomosis procedure, an anvil rod having an attached anvil head is mounted to the distal end of a surgical stapling instrument shaft prior to insertion of the instrument into the tissue to be anastomosed. However, in other applications, it is preferable to utilize a detachable anvil rod which may be mounted to the instrument subsequent to positioning of the instrument and the anvil assembly within respective tissue sections. In such instances, the stapling instrument and the anvil assembly are separately delivered to the operative site. Each tissue section is secured to a respective anvil or staple holding component by a purse string suture. The anvil assembly is mounted to the stapling instrument by inserting a mounting portion of the anvil rod within the distal end of the instrument so that a mounting mechanism within the instrument securely engages the rod.
Certain surgical procedures utilize pledgets, buttresses or other types of biocompatible surgical fabrics and reinforcement materials. Buttresses are typically placed over the tissue-contacting surface of the anvil and/or the tissue-contacting surface of the staple holding component and secured against the target tissue during the firing of the surgical stapling instrument.
Other surgical procedures involve the step of applying (e.g., by spraying, brushing, etc.) an adhesive material and/or a sealant material to the external surface of the target surgical site following the surgical stapling procedure.
Still other procedures include the use of biological tissue adhesives. Biological adhesives generally bond separated tissues together to aid in the healing process and to enhance the tissue strength and may be used instead of suturing and stapling, for example, in surgical procedures for the repair of tissue or the creation of anastomoses. Generally, the use of biocompatible adhesives tends to minimize foreign body reaction and scarring.