A sterile, hand-held, manual surgical instrument intended to be used during abdominal, gynaecological, paediatric, and thoracic endoscopic (i.e., endotherapy) surgery for the application of surgical staples to approximate internal soft tissues (e.g., two ends of bowel) or for fixation of a surgical mesh to tissue during a laparoscopic procedure; it has no cutting function and may be used during open surgery. The device operates by a manual mechanism (e.g., trigger mechanism) whereby it applies single or multiple linear rows of surgical staples to a portion of tissue. The staples may be housed in a single-use loading unit (SULU) which may be included. This is a single-use device.