An absorbable suture is defined as a surgical suture material prepared from a substance that can be dissolved by body tissues and is therefore not permanent [1]. Any suture, which loses its tensile strength within 60 days, is considered an absorbable suture. The ideal absorbable suture has high tensile strength, low reactivity, good security and delayed absorption time. They can be classified as natural absorbable sutures or synthetic absorbable sutures.
The only natural absorbable suture is catgut. Despite the name, catgut was never made from cat intestines, instead it was actually derived from highly purified collagen derived from the intestines of sheep, cattle and goats [2]. There are three types available; plain, chromic and fast absorbing. Plain catgut has a relatively low tensile strength, poor knot security and high tissue reactivity. It maintains significant tensile strength for only four to five days and wound security essentially disappears within two weeks, after which the suture undergoes significant proteolytic degradation [3]. Generally complete absorption has occurred within seventy days. For this reason this suture material is usually chosen for tissues, which heal rapidly and require minimal support. Chromic catgut is plain catgut, which has been treated with chromium …show more content…
It was the second available synthetic absorbable suture available. It is coated in Polyglactin 370 which aids in handling and knot security properties. It loses 92 percent of its tensile strength within 28 days and it is completely absorbed by hydrolysis within 60-90 days [8]. Polyglactin has been proven to be an attractive option for buried sutures which aid wound closure until the wound has healed sufficiently [4]. Ethicon have also developed two new sutures; Vivryl rapide, which has been ionized with gamma rays, to speed its absorbtion and Coated Vicryl Plus Antibacterial, which has been treated with triclosan as an antibaterial suture
The only natural absorbable suture is catgut. Despite the name, catgut was never made from cat intestines, instead it was actually derived from highly purified collagen derived from the intestines of sheep, cattle and goats [2]. There are three types available; plain, chromic and fast absorbing. Plain catgut has a relatively low tensile strength, poor knot security and high tissue reactivity. It maintains significant tensile strength for only four to five days and wound security essentially disappears within two weeks, after which the suture undergoes significant proteolytic degradation [3]. Generally complete absorption has occurred within seventy days. For this reason this suture material is usually chosen for tissues, which heal rapidly and require minimal support. Chromic catgut is plain catgut, which has been treated with chromium …show more content…
It was the second available synthetic absorbable suture available. It is coated in Polyglactin 370 which aids in handling and knot security properties. It loses 92 percent of its tensile strength within 28 days and it is completely absorbed by hydrolysis within 60-90 days [8]. Polyglactin has been proven to be an attractive option for buried sutures which aid wound closure until the wound has healed sufficiently [4]. Ethicon have also developed two new sutures; Vivryl rapide, which has been ionized with gamma rays, to speed its absorbtion and Coated Vicryl Plus Antibacterial, which has been treated with triclosan as an antibaterial suture