- This new connection allows for safer procedures and much faster healing
- It is much less invasive, and may replace stitches and staples in the future
- Experts say it can be used to ‘revolutionise’ tens of thousands of surgeries
Roger Dobson for the Daily Mail
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A magnetic doughnut-shaped device may soon replace stitches and staples in common surgical procedures.
It’s being tested in a trial in the U.S. after results from animal studies suggested it could be highly effective.
Researchers leading the California trial say the device could be suitable for tens of thousands of procedures and will ‘revolutionise this area’.
Surgery often involves tying the ends of blood vessels or other structures together until they naturally fuse. This connection is called an anastomosis and is usually done with staples or stitches.
The new device holds the two ends with a strong magnetic bond that researchers believe leads to a more secure anastomosis and faster healing — and it is safer than standard techniques, as it can be done using less invasive surgery, meaning a lower risk of complications such as leaks. It’s also said to be cheaper.
Surgery often involves tying the ends of blood vessels or other structures together until they naturally fuse. This connection is called an anastomosis and is usually done with staples or stitches
Anastomoses are most commonly used in bowel surgery and weight-loss procedures for obese patients.
Around 30,000 operations for bowel cancer are carried out each year, and up to 7,000 weight-loss procedures in the UK.
Surgery on the intestine is also carried out on patients with cancer, inflammatory disease and congenital malformations that affect digestion, as well as following trauma.
All of these require cutting blood vessels and tubes, sometimes including the large intestine.
Creating a surgical anastomosis with stitches or staples is an expensive part of many operations and often the most difficult and time-consuming element.
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It is also traditionally done using open surgery, which has a raised risk of bleeding.
The new device, the Magnamosis, is a method of connecting the pieces using the attraction between two magnets, rather than staples or stitches.
It consists of two ring magnets, each 23mm in diameter, which have concave or convex surfaces so that they fit snugly against each other.
Each side of the magnet is inserted using an endoscope — a flexible tube with a camera on the end — and fed through each side of the vessel until they meet where the connection needs to be formed.
They then snap together to sandwich the loose ends between them — an anastomosis then forms naturally.
The new device, the Magnamosis, is a method of connecting pieces using the attraction between magnets
So far, this process has been shown to take less than a week using the magnet. It then automatically loosens its magnetic hold and is naturally removed from the body.
A series of animal studies have shown that it is reliable and effective, and it is now being used in a clinical trial with patients for the first time.
Ten patients who have planned intestine surgery which requires an anastomosis will have it done using the Magnamosis device.
They’ll be monitored for two years to check how good the connection is and to look for side-effects such as fevers and leaks.
Commenting on the technology, Shafi Ahmed, a consultant colorectal surgeon and a spokesman for the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘We need to explore different ways of stitching the bowel together.
Creating a surgical anastomosis with stitches or staples is both an expensive and time-consuming process
‘This is potentially a very exciting and novel idea, which could involve not having to use stitches, making an operation quicker.
‘However, it’s early days and we do not know how reliable this is. It will take quite a long time before we use it in clinical practice.’
Meanwhile, patients who are recovering from major surgery could benefit more from a fish oil jab than the standard injection which is based on soya bean.
Currently, patients are given nutrients intravenously after major surgery to provide energy and speed up recovery — a treatment based on soya bean is the standard option.
Chinese researchers analysed 21 trials, comparing the benefits of each treatment, and found that patients who had the fish oil option spent less time in hospital and had fewer complications, according to the journal Clinical Nutrition.
Fish oil is richer in omega-3, which is thought to have anti-inflammatory effects.
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