Patent ID: 8715304

Claim:
A method of performing a surgical anastomosis by approximating a first body vessel and a second body vessel, comprising the steps of: providing a device for performing the surgical anastomosis, the device comprising: an inner member having an expandable anchor operatively coupled near a distal end thereof; an outer member having a lumen for receiving the inner member, the outer member having a distal expandable cuff, and a proximal expandable cuff disposed proximally of the distal expandable cuff; and a radially expandable sleeve disposed about at least a portion of the outer member for extending across a juncture between the body vessels and for extending across at least a portion of the expandable anchor of the inner member; passing the device through the first body vessel and into the second body vessel; then, expanding the expandable anchor of the inner member within the second body vessel and within a distal end of the sleeve such that the distal end of the sleeve engages the second body vessel; then, expanding the proximal expandable cuff of the outer member such that the proximal expandable cuff engages the first body vessel; then, moving the inner member relative to the outer member so that the second body vessel directly contacts the first body vessel; and expanding the distal expandable cuff within the first body vessel subsequent to moving the inner member such that a proximal end of the sleeve engages the first body vessel.