Circumcision instrument with staple means

Claim 1

A circumcision instrument for use during the removal of the foreskin from the penis of a patient, said foreskin including an outer layer of skin, and a mucous membrane inner layer intermediate the skin layer and the penis, comprising: (a) first and second body members adapted for arrangement on opposite sides of the foreskin; (b) means for displacing said body members alternately toward and away from each other, respectively; and (c) means carried by said body members and operable when said body members are displaced together for simultaneously cutting the foreskin to define a line of cut and stapling together the mucous membrane and skinlayers of the foreskin adjacent said line of cut, thereby to reduce bleeding from the cut, (1) said cutting means including a knife blade mounted on said first body member adjacent said second body member; (2) said stapling means including a plurality of male staple members removably carried by at least one of said body members, said staple members including straight parallel pointed arms extending toward the other body member, and a plurality of cooperating female staple members at least some of which are carried by said other body member opposite said male staple members, respectively, said female members being generally inperforate and being formed of a synthetic plastic material having such a coefficient of hardness as to permit initial penetration thereof by the pointed extremities of said arms without bending of the arms, and subsequent retention of the unbent pointed arms to clamp together the male and female members on opposite sides of the foreskin.