A monitoring system is disclosed for in vivo monitoring of preselectedphysiologicalparameters associated with acute and/or chronic tissue compromise or failurein one or multipletissue/organ sites in real time. In one method of real time monitoring of ananastomosis, a bodyportion of a surgical stapling device including a staple cartridge ispositioned adjacent a firsttissue section, an anvil assembly including a shaft adapted to engage the bodyportion ispositioned adjacent a second tissue section, and a monitoring device ispositioned adjacent thefirst and/or second tissue sections. The monitoring device includes a sensoradapted to measurea preselected physiological parameter and a transmitter for transmittingsignal to anextracorporeal receiving unit. The surgical stapling device is fired tomechanically secure thefirst and second tissue sections with at least one staple along a staple lineand the preselectedphysiological parameter is monitored via the information transmitted from themonitoring deviceto the receiving unit.
