Absorbable Surgical Sutures

Sutures are sterile’ filaments used to close wounds and are made of either absorbable or nonabsorbable materials. The choice of suture materials for surgery is made mainly on the basis of biocompatibility and mechanical properties. The biological interaction with the tissues is considered from the point of view of the inflammatory reaction caused. An ideal suture is one that does not merely avoid negative reactions but also keeps a sterile environment and stimulates the process of healing. An absorbable suture is one which is degraded in body tissues to soluble products and disappears from the implant site, usually within 2 to 6 months. A nonabsorbable suture is resistant to biodegradation, becomes encapsulated in a fibrous sheath, and remains in the tissue as a foreign body unless it is surgically removed (e.g., skin sutures) or extruded. Sutures may be fabricated as monofilaments or multifilaments. The latter are generally braided but sometimes twisted or spun and may be coated with wax, silicone, or other polymers to decrease capillarity and improve handling properties. Hoffman [1] presented a survey on the medical applications of synthetic and natural fibrous materials made from such polymers as poly-(fluorocarbons), polyamides, polyolefins, polypeptides, and polysaccharides which are both nonbiodegradable or slowly biodegrad-ing and biodegradable fibers. Frazza [2] prepared a review on mechanical properties and sterilization of natural and synthetic absorbable and nonabsorbable suture materials. The present paper is a review on materials that have been in recent times as absorbable sutures