Canine colonic anastomoses reinforced with dye-enhanced fibrinogen and a diode laser.

Leakage from colonic anastomoses is a common cause of morbidity in patients recovering from bowel surgery. We evaluated a technique of laser-fibrinogen reinforcement to strengthen colonic anastomoses in a canine model. After creation of eight single-layer interrupted suture anastomoses in six dogs, indocyanine green-dye-enhanced fibrinogen was topically applied to the serosal surface and exposed to 808 nm diode laser energy. Immediately following colonic anastomosis, the mean leakage pressure was 137 +/- 22 mm Hg in the group (n = 8) using sutures alone and 326 +/- 67 mm Hg (P less than 0.001) in the group (n = 8) after the sutured anastomosis was reinforced with lasered-fibrinogen. On histological examination, no evidence of thermal injury to the tissue edges was noted and a layer of fibrinogen bridged the anastomotic gap. Laser dye-enhanced fibrinogen reinforcement significantly enhances the strength of sutured colonic anastomoses without causing appreciable thermal injury to the host tissues.