The role of new staplers in reducing the incidence of air leak

Surgical staplers play an important role in the contemporary minimally invasive thoracic surgery including resection of lung tissue. However, staple line failure resulting in postoperative air leaks is a common complication after lung surgery, that if persist more than five days are defined as prolonged air leaks (PALs). PALs are associated with increased length of stay, patient morbidity and mortality, and hospital costs. To reduce the incidence of PALs, stapler devices underwent in the last years ongoing development aimed at improving device-to-tissue interaction. This clinical practice review explores the most important aspects of the evolution of surgical staplers, based on the review of the available literature. Modern staple cartridges entail small bumps to engage tissue and minimize tissue movement during compression and firing. Staplers with graduated staple heights are advocated to generate less stress on tissue during compression and clamping, thus affording greater perfusion into the staple line. However, air leaks may occur from an appropriate staple line with complete pleural coverage and perfusion due to enlarged staple canals after lung inflation, particularly in case of emphysema. To buttress staple line, thus prevent air leaks in high-risk patients, several types of tissue coverage (bovine pericardium, polytetrafluoroethylene, knitted calcium alginate, bioabsorbable polyglycolic acid) have been successfully developed in the last years. Finally, the most advanced stapler technology is represented by the new energy powered staplers, able to eliminate the manual firing force, monitor tissue compression during firing, and making automatic adjustments to optimize the staple line.