METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VASCULAR AND VISCERAL CLIPPING

Devices and methods for achieving hemostasis and leakage control in hollow body vessels such as the small and large intestines, arteries, and veins as well as ducts leading to the gall bladder and other organs. The devices and methods disclosed are especially useful in the emergency, trauma surgery, or military setting. In such cases, the patient may have received trauma to the abdomen, extremities, neck or thoracic region. The devices utilize removable or permanently implanted, broad, soft, parallel jaw clips with minimal projections to maintain vessel contents without damage to the tissue comprising the vessel. These clips are applied using devices that are subsequently removed leaving the clips implanted, on a temporary or permanent basis, to provide for hemostasis or leakage prevention, or both. The clips come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The clips may be placed and removed by open surgery or laparoscopic access.