Patent ID: 8475477

Claim:
A vascular graft for anastomosis of a pair of end portions ( 8 / 8 ′) of a blood vessel, each end portion terminating at an end, said vascular graft comprising: a first staple ( 1 ), a second staple ( 1 ), a first cylindrical element ( 4 ) and a second cylindrical element ( 4 ), each staple ( 1 ) comprising a ring ( 2 ) and a plurality of legs ( 3 ) extending therefrom, each leg ( 3 ) terminating at a tip, the first cylindrical element ( 4 ) being configured to define guide means for the first staple ( 1 ), the second cylindrical element ( 4 ) being configured to define guide means for the second staple ( 1 ), the first staple ( 1 ) being matable with the first cylindrical element ( 4 ) so that the first staple legs ( 3 ) extend through the first cylindrical element ( 4 ), the second staple ( 1 ) being matable with the second cylindrical element ( 4 ) so that the second staple legs ( 3 ) extend through the second cylindrical element ( 4 ), each of the cylindrical elements ( 4 ) having a diameter, a length and a configuration effective (a) to permit each of the cylindrical elements to be placed externally around one of the respective end portions ( 8 / 8 ′), (b) to guide the legs of the corresponding staple to pierce a wall of the corresponding end portion from the outside with each tip of each leg ending up within the wall and short of the end of the end portion, (c) to permit the two cylindrical elements to be brought together and fixed in position in relationship to each other so that the two ends of the end portions of the blood vessel abut each other in longitudinal relationship, wherein the legs of the first and second staple are deformable, to bend inwardly when the two elements are brought together.