Intestinal stapling device and method

摘要

A stapler and associated methods for joining resected passageways together and leak testing the anastomosis is described, the stapler including an elongated member for insertion adjacent two sections of tissue desired to be joined. At the distal end of the elongated member is positioned tissue-joining apparatus, which is activated from adjacent the proximal end. The elongated member has a lumen extending from adjacent the distal end to adjacent the proximal end. A method of the present invention includes leak testing the anastomosis with the same instrument that was used for joining the tissue sections together by introducing air through the lumen from the proximal end to the distal end to perform insufflation. A further aspect of the method comprises the step of facilitating the instrument's insertion into a passageway prior to tissue joining by insufflating the passageway if it is in a collapsed state.