Importance

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Abstract

A surgical stapler including a hollow shaft and a tube slidable axially within the shaft between a forward position wherein one end of the tube projects beyond a free end of the shaft to enter a puncture site in a blood vessel and a rearward position wherein the end of the locator tube is retracted within the shaft. A surgical staple straddles the tube and is slidable thereon forwardly towards an anvil against which the staple may be deformed to staple together the opposite edges of the puncture site. A cam mechanism drives the staple forwardly along the tube into deforming engagement with the anvil and at the same time retracts the tube into the shaft in time to allow the legs of the staple to close onto the puncture site.

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First Claim