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Surgical staples are specialized staples used in surgery to close skin wounds, anastamose bowel or excise portions of lung. The use of surgical staples was pioneered by a Russian surgeon in the 1960s.
Skin staples
Surgical staples are an alternative to suturing a skin wound; it is much faster to staple a wound closed rather than suturing by hand. Skin staples are deployed using a disposable stapler, and removed with a specialized staple remover. Staples may be removed without the staple remover, but it is much slower, and more painful.
A study of Cesarean sections showed that the cosmetic results of staples are equivalent to sutures when removed early. Stapled wounds have lower infection rates than traditional sutures.
Internal staples
Staples may be used to anastamose segments of bowel or to remove portion of a lung while simultaneously preventing bleeding and air leaks.
Materials
Surgical skin staples are made of stainless steel. Staples used inside the body are made of titanium, but some older staples are made of stainless steel. Stainless steel poses problems with MRI scanners, whereas titanium is non-magnetic and can be safely used with MRI. Insorb is a newer system using absorbable staples containing polylactic acid.
See also
References
- "Medicine 101: Surgical staples" TVOntario Website; accessed 13 February 2007
External links
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