Surgical fasteners

Abstract

Surgical fasteners, including tacks are disclosed for fastening a surgical mesh to underlying tissue during surgical procedures to repair body tissue, such as in hernia repair. Such tacks can include a head, a elongated body portion having a distal end and a proximal end, and an anchoring element on an outer surface of the body portion for inhibiting the removal of the tack from the mesh and body tissue.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A surgical fastening system, comprising:
 a surgical instrument including a tubular body portion having a lumen extending therethrough; and   a first tack and a second tack loaded into the lumen of the tubular body portion of the surgical instrument, each tack including:
 a proximal-most end; 
 a distal-most end; and 
 a helical thread disposed therebetween; 
   wherein the distal-most end of the second tack overlaps with the proximal-most end of the first tack such that the first tack and the second tack are stacked in at least a partially overlapping configuration with one another.   
     
     
         3 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 2 , further comprising at least one anchoring element extending radially from each tack. 
     
     
         4 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one anchoring element is a barb. 
     
     
         5 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 2 , wherein each tack is formed from a bioabsorbable material. 
     
     
         6 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 2 , wherein the surgical instrument is configured to rotatably advance each tack through the lumen of the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         7 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 6 , wherein the surgical instrument is configured to fire each tack from a distal-most end of the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         8 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 7 , wherein each tack is linearly advanced through the tubular body portion upon a rotation thereof relative to the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         9 . A surgical fastening system, comprising:
 a surgical instrument including a tubular body portion having a lumen extending therethrough; and   a first tack and a second tack loaded into the lumen of the tubular body portion of the surgical instrument, each tack including:
 a proximal-most end; 
 a distal-most end; and 
 a helical thread disposed therebetween; 
   wherein the first tack and the second tack are loaded in the lumen of the tubular body portion such that the distal-most end of the second tack is located distal of the proximal-most end of the first tack.   
     
     
         10 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 9 , wherein each tack is formed from a bioabsorbable material. 
     
     
         11 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 9 , further comprising at least one anchoring element extending radially from each tack. 
     
     
         12 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one anchoring element is a barb. 
     
     
         13 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 9 , wherein the surgical instrument is configured to rotatably advance each tack through the lumen of the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         14 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 13 , wherein the surgical instrument is configured to fire each tack from a distal-most end of the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         15 . The surgical fastening system of  claim 14 , wherein each tack is linearly advanced through the tubular body portion upon a rotation thereof relative to the tubular body portion. 
     
     
         16 . A surgical apparatus, comprising:
 first and second tacks, each tack including:
 a head with a recess disposed in a proximal surface thereof; 
 an elongate body portion extending from a distal surface of the head; and 
 a plurality of anchoring elements extending radially from an outer surface of the elongate body portion; and 
   wherein a distal end portion of the elongate body portion of second tack is at least partially disposed within the recess of the first tack such that the first tack and the second tack are stacked in a tip to tail configuration with one another.   
     
     
         17 . The surgical apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of anchoring elements includes at least one proximal anchoring element. 
     
     
         18 . The surgical apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of anchoring elements includes at least one distal anchoring element. 
     
     
         19 . The surgical instrument of  claim 16 , wherein at least one anchoring element of the plurality of anchoring elements is a barb. 
     
     
         20 . The surgical apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein at least two of the plurality of anchoring elements are diametrically opposed on the elongated body portion.