A new articulating suturing device for advanced laparoscopic surgery, including SILS single-incision procedures, has been launched worldwide.

The SILS Stitch instrument offers the potential for increasing the range of 'keyhole' surgical procedures where a single incision is used to achieve access rather than the 'triangulation' of multiple incisions.

The new instrument is the only automated suturing device with new features to enhance manoeuvrability: 75-degree articulation, 360-degree tip rotation and increased length. This will offer surgeons improved access and control, even at challenging angles of laparoscopic surgery.

The new device can be used for a wide variety of minimally-invasive procedures, including gynaecological procedures such as laparascopic hysterectomy, where suturing remains difficult.

Dr. Dana Portenier, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, commented: "The SILS Stitch instrument can be procedure-enabling in single-incision cases where the benefits of articulation overcome the limitations we have by not having triangulation. The SILS Stitch device will enable us to attack the tissues where they lie, rather than pull them to the places that are convenient for us."

The SILS Stitch device expands both Covidien's SILS product line and its endoscopic suturing portfolio.

Covidien works with surgeons worldwide to develop and promote minimally invasive approaches to surgery.

 
SILS Stitch