OP 127. Staple Line Analysis of Functional Vascularity Using Microct

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M. Nagelschmidt, A Miesse, J. Mayotte, J. Oldak, M. Wegener, J. Alberino, D. Racenet

Chair(s): Attila Balogh, Thomas Hubert & Krisztián Szigeti

16:10 - 16:20h at Erszebet Room (A)

Categories: Oral Session, Evidence-Based Surgery

Session: Oral Session XIV - Surgical Anatomy

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Background
The purpose of this investigation was to determine the feasibility to reliably image functional vascularity at the microscopic level; and also discern a difference between types of staple lines.

Material and Methods
Sprague-Dawley male rats were used in a barium-sulfate perfusion technique. The stomach of each rat was stapled across using a standard endoscopic surgical stapler. The perfusion needle with barium perfusate solution was placed into the left ventricle and infused throughout the rat via a syringe pump. The stomach was excised, fixed in formalin, and cooled overnight to allow for solidification before being sent to ImageIQ for micro-computed tomography (microCT) analysis.

Result
Initial analysis looked at mean vessel to staple distance, as well as vessel content in regions of interest along the staple line. Some staple lines had a lower mean vessel to staple distance, and also showed higher vessel content within the staple line than other devices.

Conclusion
Current results look promising in showing a difference more functional vascularity within the staple line of certain stapling devices. Future work will consist of bolstering the sample size for each group in order to perform proper statistical analysis. In addition, future analysis will focus on characterizing the amount of vessels inside the staple line to clearly demonstrate functional vascularity.