Anastomotic compression button: a new mechanical device for sutureless bowel anastomosis.

The anastomotic compression button is a new mechanical device that uses three interlocking polypropylene buttons to produce a sutureless bowel anastomosis. The device is unique in that it allows application of the buttons via a device similar to the popular intraluminal stapler, but it leaves no staples or foreign body of any kind in the bowel wall. The authors compared the 25-mm anastomotic compression button with the 25-mm intraluminal stapler in the colon of dogs. After 28 days, the mucosal blood flow, burst pressure, and anastomotic indices were found to be identical between the anastomotic compression button and the stapler. The anastomotic compression button was easier to use, and microscopic examination showed less ulceration, fibrosis, and inflammation, and better re-epithelialization at the anastomotic compression button site. The anastomotic compression button appears to have the potential to be a superior method compared with stapled anastomoses in the colon.