Mechanical stapling devices have been widely applied in the gastrointestinal surgery since the 1950s because of its advantages of easy manipulation,less time consumption and low incidence of postoper ativecomplications With modification of these devices and technical proficiency,mechanical staplers have been introduced into several surgical procedures in hepatopancreatobiliary surgery including pancreatoduodenectomy hepatectomy cholecystojejunostomy,gastroenterostomy,cystogastrostomy and enteroenterostomy Currently there are no guidelines or consensus in China concerning the use of mechanical stapling devices. Current advances in mechanical stapling devices and complications in the clinical practice are discussed in this article.