Stapled versus hand-sewn: A prospective emergency surgery study. An American Association for the Surgery of Trauma multi-institutional study. Data from the trauma patient population suggests handsewn (HS) anastomoses are superior to stapled (ST). A recent retrospective study in emergency general surgery (EGS) patients had similar findings.

A total of 595 patients underwent 649 anastomoses (396 ST vs. 253 HS). The median age was 62 years (interquartile range [IQR], 49–74) and 305 (51%) were men. The mean CCI was 1 (SD, 1.8), and the overall mortality for the entire cohort was 7.7%.

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