Tissue aligning surgical stapler and method of use
A surgical stapler having a tissue spacer at its forward end. The spacer is inserted between lateral sides of a wound to be closed and holds the tissue on lateral sides of the wound apart while the tines of a staple are driven into the tissue margins and bent around the staple bending surface of the staple anvil to draw the tissue captured between the tines toward each other. The tissue spacer has a width greater than the width of the staple bending surface of the anvil and less than the distance between the tines of the staple in an unbent condition such that when inserted between lateral sides of the wound it will space the facing tissue margins of the wound apart a distance sufficient to provide a metered amount of tissue lateral sides of the wound that will be captured between the tines and drawn together as the tines are bent toward each other to close the wound without crushing or overlapping of the captured tissue.
A A A
A61B A61B A61B
inventional additional additional
James R. Conard E. Jock R.
Collins Kaiser Collins