Endoscopic surgical instrument and staples for applying purse string sutures

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention generally relates to a surgical instrument and staples for applying purse string sutures to human tissue and, more particularly, to a surgical instrument and method in which a purse string suture is secured to human tissue by a plurality of staples. In addition, this invention relates to a surgical staple for securing a purse string suture to human tissue in which the staple body is adapted to be slidably attached to the purse string suture.

#In an alternative aspect, this invention relates to endoscopic instruments and methods and, more particularly, to an endoscopic surgical instrument and method for applying purse string sutures to body tissue by a plurality of staples.

#The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of a surgical staple for securing a purse string suture to human tissue;

#FIG. 2 is a top view of the surgical staple of FIG. 1;

#Referring to FIG. 1, the present invention is embodied in a surgical staple, generally 50, for securing a purse string suture to human tissue. The staple 50 has a staple body comprising an elongated strip of deformable material which is shaped into a loop 52 at the center of the strip. The loop 52 provides an opening or eyelet 54 for receiving a purse string suture. The staple body also has a pair of arms 56 and 58 which extend substantially horizontally from opposite sides of the loop 52. The arms 56 and 58 have outer portions 60 and 62, respectively, which curve downwardly and provide a pair of depending legs 64 and 66 which are angled inwardly toward each other. The tips 68 and 70 of the legs 64 and 66 are bevelled to provide sharp points which facilitate the insertion of the legs 64 and 66 into human tissue. The loop 52 is formed on the opposite side of the staple body from legs 64 and 66.

#As shown in FIG. 3, the surgical staple 50 is particularly useful for securing a purse string suture 80 to a section of human tissue 82, e.g., a tubular section of intestinal tissue. The purse string suture 80 is threaded through the eyelet 54 defined by the loop 52 and is slidably attached to the staple 50. The arms 56 and 58 are deformed by applying pressure to the outer portions 60 and 62 (FIG. 1) to insert the legs 64 and 66 into the tissue 82. When the deformation is completed, the legs 64 and 66 are moved into an overlapping configuration (FIG. 3). Thus, the staple 50 is formed into the configuration of a figure eight including the small upper loop 52 for insertion of the purse string suture 80 and a large lower loop 84 defined by arms 56 and 58 and overlapping legs 64 and 66 for connection to the tissue 82.

#Referring to FIG. 4, in a second embodiment of the invention, a surgical staple, generally 90, includes a staple body comprising an elongated strip of deformable material which is shaped into a loop 92 at the center of the strip. The loop 92 provides an opening or eyelet 94 for receiving a purse string suture. The staple body also has a pair of arms 96 and 98 which extend from opposite sides of the loop 92 and which slope slightly downward from the horizontal. The outer portions 100 and 102 of arms 96 and 98 are curved downwardly and provide a pair of legs 104 and 106 which are angled inwardly toward each other. The tips 108 and 110 of legs 104 and 106 are bevelled to provide sharp points which facilitate the insertion of legs 104 and 106 into the tissue. The loop 92 is formed on the same side of the staple body as the legs 104 and 106.