Effect of Suture Selection on the Rate of Suture or Mesh Erosion and Surgery Failure in Abdominal Sacrocolpopexy

In Brief Objective: To determine if suture type used for mesh attachment in abdominal sacrocolpopexy increases the rate of erosion/infection. Methods: Two groups were temporally divided from June 1996 to May 2001 where braided permanent sutures (2-0 Ethibond, Ethicon, Somerville, New Jersey) were exclusively used for graft placement (n = 161) and from August 2001 to May 2006 where exclusively monofilament delayed absorbable (2-0 PDS, Ethicon) was used (n = 254). Data were analyzed for demographics, medical history, presenting/postoperative physical examination, concomitant surgeries, and complications. Results: Mesh/suture exposure rate was 3.7% (6/161) with Ethibond. There were no erosions with PDS (P = 0.002). Colpopexy failure was 1.7% (2/116) with Ethibond and 0% (0/235) with PDS (P = 0.11). Conclusions: Delayed absorbable, monofilament suture appears to reduce the risk of graft/suture erosion without increasing surgical failure. Monofilament delayed-absorbable suture seems to reduce suture and/or mesh erosion when compared with braided permanent suture. We were unable to demonstrate an increased rate of colpopexy failure.