A surgical instrument includes a handle portion, a shaft housing a firing bar, an end effector comprising an anvil, a lower jaw, and a stapling and severing assembly responsive to a longitudinal closing motion produced by the handle portion and the shaft. The lower jaw is configured to receive a removable cartridge. The cartridge includes a housing, a plurality of staples disposed in the housing, and a deck disposed over the plurality of staples. The deck defines apertures, with each aperture being substantially disposed over each staple. The instrument includes an anvil cartridge removably received in an anvil frame. The anvil cartridge is severed by the firing bar when the firing bar is advanced through tissue such that material from the anvil cartridge is released onto the severed tissue.