Surgical apparatus including surgical buttress

1. An end effector for a surgical stapling apparatus, comprising:

an anvil assembly including an anvil body and an anvil plate, the anvil plate including a bottom surface defining a plurality of staple forming pockets, the anvil body and the anvil plate being selectively connectable;

a surgical buttress including a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the body, the arms being disposable between a top surface of the anvil plate and a bottom surface of the anvil body such that the top surface of the anvil plate and the bottom surface of the anvil body contact the arms to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate when the anvil plate and the anvil body are connected to one another;

wherein the arms of the surgical buttress extend from side edges of the buttress body; and

wherein the arms are foldable over an outer side surface of the anvil plate to facilitate securement of the arms between the top surface of the anvil plate and the bottom surface of the anvil body.

2. The end effector of claim 1 , wherein the anvil body defines at least one channel in a bottom surface of the anvil body for the reception of at least one of the arms of the surgical buttress.

3. The end effector of claim 2 , wherein the surgical buttress is formed of a non-woven material.

4. The end effector of claim 2 , wherein the surgical buttress is made from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

5. The end effector of claim 1 , wherein the arms of the surgical buttress are integrally formed with the buttress body.

6. A surgical stapling apparatus, comprising:

a first jaw assembly including an anvil body and an anvil plate, the anvil plate defining a plurality of fastener forming pockets in a bottom surface thereof;

a second jaw assembly including a fastener cartridge defining a plurality of fastener retaining slots;

a plurality of fasteners disposed within the fastener slots and configured and dimensioned to be formed by the fastener pockets of the anvil plate upon a firing of the stapling apparatus;

a surgical buttress including a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the buttress body, the arms being disposed between, and secured by, a top surface of the anvil plate and a bottom surface of the anvil body to support the buttress body against the bottom surface of the anvil plate;

wherein the arms of the surgical buttress extend from side edges of the buttress body; and

wherein the arms are foldable over an outer side surface of the anvil plate.

7. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the anvil body defines at least one channel in the bottom surface thereof for the reception of at least one of the arms of the surgical buttress.

8. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the at least one arm is released from the at least one channel upon a firing of the stapling apparatus.

9. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the surgical buttress is formed of a non-woven material.

10. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the surgical buttress is made from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.

11. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising a knife assembly including a knife that is movable through at least one of the first and second jaw assemblies to cut at least one of the buttress body and the arms of the surgical buttress to facilitate a release of at least the buttress body from against the bottom surface of the anvil plate.

12. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the arms of the surgical buttress are integrally formed with the buttress body.

13. The surgical stapling apparatus of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the arms is receivable in a channel defined between the anvil body and the anvil plate, the channel opening laterally through an outer surface of the anvil body.

14. A method of mounting a surgical buttress to an end effector of a surgical stapling apparatus, the method comprising:

providing an end effector for a surgical stapling apparatus, the end effector including a first jaw assembly and a second jaw assembly, the first jaw assembly including an anvil body and an anvil plate, the anvil plate defining a plurality of fastener forming pockets in a bottom surface thereof, the second jaw assembly including a cartridge defining a plurality of fastener retaining slots for retaining a plurality of fasteners that are formed by the fastener forming pockets upon a firing of the stapling apparatus;

providing a surgical buttress including a buttress body and a plurality of arms extending from the buttress body;

folding the arms around an outer side surface of the anvil plate to tuck the arms of the surgical buttress between a top surface of the anvil plate and the bottom surface of the anvil body so that the buttress body is disposed adjacent the bottom surface of the anvil plate.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising securing the arms of the surgical buttress within channels defined in the bottom surface of the anvil body, the channels opening laterally through a side surface of the anvil body.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising forming the surgical buttress from a non-woven material.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising forming the surgical buttress from a material selected from the group comprising polyglytone 6211, glycolide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, lactide and combinations thereof.