Ever since the memorable pioneer work of the late Dr. Nicholas Senn, intestinal surgery has been an attractive and fruitful field. During this brief period there have been proposed many ingenious methods of anastomosis and devices for their performance. Some of them have already become obsolete, while others are gradually being superseded by simpler means. The methods in vogue are serviceable in skilled hands, but are complicated and liable to sepsis or are incomplete. None has been stamped with unqualified approval. All except the McGraw elastic ligature are done on a wide-open gut and are essentially septic operations. The ligature method—the simplest and cleanest of all—does not complete the anastomosis for three or more days and is, therefore, incompetent for those cases in which another communication does not exist.
With the development of definite sutural methods there has arisen a disposition to discard contrivances as unnecessary if not also complicated.