[Use of automatic suturing devices in surgery of the digestive tract]

A review of 345 surgical procedures performed on the digestive tract with the use of automatic suturing devices is presented. The morbidity due to hemmorrhage, fistula formation and obstruction as well as the reoperation and mortality rates are discussed and compared with those reported in the literature for the same procedures using standard anastomotic and suturing techniques. This study confirms the safety of these stapling instruments in a wide variety of gastrointestinal procedures in which their use resulted in a considerable saving of operative time.