Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced the latest additions to its growing bariatric surgery portfolio of products and services designed to improve patient and surgeon experiences with weight loss surgery and other procedures.
“Bariatric surgery requires a significant amount of surgical stapling and suturing to ensure anastomotic closure”
Covidien's V-Loc™ knotless suturing device is now available as a reload that works with the Company's proprietary Endo Stitch™ and SILS™ Stitch suturing devices for multi-port and single-port laparoscopic surgery. The new device can increase operating room efficiency during bariatric surgery and other procedures.
"Bariatric surgery requires a significant amount of surgical stapling and suturing to ensure anastomotic closure," noted Dana D. Portenier, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center. "The ability to suture internal tissue laparoscopically without the need to tie knots can help surgeons shorten one of the most labor-intensive tasks performed during bariatric surgery. As an early user of the Endo Stitch device with the V-Loc reload, I've been able to perform laparoscopic suturing with greater ease and efficiency than I previously could have using traditional devices that require knots."
By combining proprietary automated needle-passing technology with a knotless suturing device, the V-Loc device for Endo Stitch and SILS Stitch devices offers distinctive benefits over hand suturing and conventional automated suturing options. The V-Loc device for use with Endo Stitch has a unique barb and loop design, enabling faster suturing by eliminating the need to tie any knots and saving surgeons 35-42% of the time required to suture inside the body, according to a recent pre-clinical study. Compared to conventional suturing, the proprietary Endo Stitch™ suturing device can save 45-70% of laparoscopic suturing time, clinical studies show.
"Covidien works closely with surgeons to develop devices that not only improve patient outcomes, but also make surgery easier, safer and more efficient. We believe that our new V-Loc knotless suturing reloads for minimally invasive surgery will help surgeons perform aspects of their procedures with greater efficiency," said Paul Hermes, Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Covidien Surgical Solutions. "Covidien is committed to the advancement of bariatric surgery technology and offers a full portfolio of products and services to support bariatric surgeons, their practices and patients."
Covidien's comprehensive bariatric surgery portfolio is on display here at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), which runs through June 22. By visiting Covidien booth #305, ASMBS attendees can gain demonstrations of, and first-hand experience with, the new V-Loc reloads, as well as the recently launched LigaSure™ 5 mm blunt tip vessel sealing instrument (44 cm), the LigaSure Advance™ pistol grip vessel sealing instrument and the Endo GIA™ Black reloads with Tri-Staple™ technology.
Separately at the meeting, an investigational team led by Dwight Bronson, Manager, Research and Development, Covidien, will present a poster titled, "Comparison of EndoStapler Performance in Challenging Tissue Applications," (ASMBS Abstract No. P-178) co-authored by Covidien researchers Elizabeth Contini and Jennifer Whiffen. Their work demonstrated that the Covidien Endo GIA Black reload with Tri-Staple technology, which deploys three rows of graduated height staples on either side of a transection, exhibited significantly better "B"-shaped staple formation (p<0.001) for all regions of the stomach and reduced the occurrence of malformed staples in five of the seven regions, compared to a competitive thick tissue reload which deploys three rows of single height staples.The "B"-shaped staple, widely considered the gold standard for staple formation, ensures staple line security and allows blood flow through the tissue, both of which are important factors in promoting post-surgical healing.
Covidien Launches Bariatric Practice Education Program
In addition, the Company is announcing new tools for the Shaping a Better Future in Bariatric Surgery program - Covidien's bariatric patient education and practice management initiatives. Covidien is committed to supporting bariatric practices by providing innovative solutions that make a difference in patients' lives. A key objective of the Shaping a Better Future in Bariatric Surgery program is to seamlessly support bariatric practices in their efforts to build clinically effective relationships with their patients, such as arming prospective patients with useful information to guide treatment decisions when exploring bariatric surgery as an option for weight loss.
The new patient education programs will also be featured at Covidien's booth at this year's ASMBS annual meeting.
Memories of obesity can linger in fat cells long after weight loss