APPLICATOR INSTRUMENTS WITH END CAPS AND GRIPPING ELEMENTS

Abstract

An application instrument for dispensing surgical fasteners includes a housing having an actuator, a shaft extending from the housing, and an end cap attached to a distal end of the shaft. The end cap has a lower side, an upper side, a lower distal edge adjacent to the lower side, and an end face that slopes upward from the lower distal edge to the upper side of the end cap. A surgical fastener dispensing window is formed in the sloped distal end face of the cap for dispensing surgical fasteners. The sloped distal end face extends continuously around the outer perimeter of the surgical fastener dispensing window. The cap includes a plurality of gripping uprights projecting distally from the sloped distal end face of the distal end cap.The uprights are inserted into the pores of a surgical mesh to control the movement of the mesh.