Surgical stapling instrument with dual staple height mechanism

A surgical stapling instrument, comprising:

• first and second cooperating elongate jaw members, one of said jaw members including staple carrying means adapted to receive a plurality of staples arranged in at least one row, and said other jaw member including anvil means adapted to form said staples,
• means for driving the staples from said staple carrying means into tissue gripped between said jaw members and forming the staples against said anvil means to produce at least one row of closed staples in the tissue,
• knife means for cutting the tissue gripped between said jaw members along a line adjacent to said staple row, and
• support means including elongated support members movable into engagement with each of said jaw members and adapted to provide longitudinal and lateral support to said jaw members along substantially the entire length of said staple carrying means and said anvil means while the staples are formed.

A surgical stapling instrument comprising:

• first and second cooperating elongate jaw members, one of said jaw members including a staple cartridge adapted to receive at least two laterally spaced longitudinal rows of staples, and said other jaw member including an anvil adapted to form said staples,
• means for sequentially driving the staples from said staple cartridge into tissue gripped between said jaw members and forming the staples against said anvil means to produce a pair of laterally spaced longitudinal rows of closed staples in the tissue,
• knife means for cutting the tissue gripped between said jaw members along a line between said longitudinal staple rows, and
• support means including elongated support members movable into engagement with each of said elongate jaw members and adapted to provide support along substantially the entire length of said staple cartridge and said anvil during the forming of the staples.

A method of performing an anastomosis using a surgical stapling instrument including first and second cooperating jaw members, one of said jaw members including a staple cartridge adapted to receive a plurality of staples arranged in at least one row, and said other jaw member including an anvil adapted to form said staples, said method comprising:

• clamping the tissue to be anastomosed between the staple cartridge and the anvil on the jaw members,
• partially ejecting the staples from said staple cartridge into the tissue gripped between the jaw members to force the staples into the tissue before the tissue is cut without forming the staples to produce at least one row of unformed staples in the tissue,
• cutting the tissue gripped between the jaw members along a line adjacent to said row of unformed staples, and
• completely ejecting the staples from the staple cartridge and forming the staples against the anvil after the tissue is cut to provide at least one row of closed staples adjacent to the line cut in the tissue.