🔍 Key Findings
- Skin staple anastomosis (SSA) had comparable leak pressures to hand-sewn anastomosis (HSA) but required half the time to complete.
- Skin staple enterotomy (SSE) had significantly lower leak pressures than hand-sewn enterotomy (HSE) and failed in 12/20 constructs during pressure testing.
- HSE constructs took 8× longer to complete than SSE, but had much higher intraluminal pressure tolerance.
- All SSE constructs leaked from the center, with 35% leaking immediately and 60% showing catastrophic failure.
- SSA leakage occurred at the center in 40% of constructs, likely due to a learning curve in early samples.
- All constructs had higher pressures than normal physiologic intestinal pressure (4.0 mmHg ±2.0), except some SSEs with immediate leaks.
- Authors recommend SSA as a viable alternative with appropriate training but do not recommend SSE using the tested technique in live cats.
- Staple size and placement technique are key factors; smaller or more precisely placed staples may reduce leak risk.
