A comparison of sutured and stapled closure of diverting loop ileostomies

The use of staplers for ileostomy closure may facilitate the procedure and improve outcome by creating a wide, functional end-to-end anastomosis. We retrospectively compared 136 sutured ileostomy closures with 152 stapled closures. Perioperative data and outcome parameters were analyzed. Patient characteristics were similar in both groups. Highly significant reduction was found in operating time (p < 0.001) and hospitalization (p = 0.001) in the stapled group compared to the sutured group. Recovery of intestinal function and complication rates showed no differences. Our results show that both techniques are comparably safe but stapling is considerably faster to perform. The higher expenses of using a stapling device may be economically compensated by the shorter operation time under certain circumstances.