Does anastomosis with the EEA stapling gun reduce leakage compared to hand suture in patients undergoing elective left-sided colonic or rectal resections?
There is no statistical difference in leakage rates between stapled and hand-sutured anastomoses for left-sided large bowel resections.
Abstract One hundred patients undergoing elective left-sided colonic or rectal resections were randomly allocated to have an anastomosis performed either with the EEA stapling gun or by hand suture using a single layer of interrupted sutures. In six patients the anastomosis could not be performed with the stapling gun. Clinical leakage occurred in two of the remaining 94 cases; both had hand-sutured anastomoses. Radiological leakage was demonstrated in 13 further cases (7 stapled, 6 sutured); there was no statistical difference in leakage rate with stapled and hand-sutured anastomoses.
Everett et al. (Thu,) studied this question.