Suture materials — Current and emerging trends

Abstract

Surgical sutures are used to facilitate closure and healing of surgical-or trauma-induced wounds by upholding tissues together to facilitate healing process. There is a wide range of suture materials for medical purpose and the main types include absorbable and nonabsorbable. Recently, there is a growth in the development of classes of suture materials based on their properties and capabilities to improve tissue approximation and wound closure. This review outlines and discusses the current and emerging trends in suture technology including knotless barbed sutures, antimicrobial sutures, bio-active sutures such as drug-eluting and stem cells seeded sutures, and smart sutures including elastic, and electronic sutures. These newer strategies expand the versatility of sutures from being used as just a physical entity approximating opposing tissues to a more biologically active component enabling delivery of drugs and cells to the desired site with immense application potential in both therapeutics and diagnostics.

The Biomechanical Properties of Suture Materials and Their Relationship to Bacterial Adherence

“…Some important biological properties are biodegradability and biocompatibility [33]. In accordance to our own study, other researchers have shown that braided sutures are less effective in managing infection than monofilament sutures.…”

Do barbed sutures with different surface textures have different effects on adhesion formation and histological features? An experimental blinded study in an animal model

“…The current clinical literature has shown the performance of absorbable barbed sutures to be equivalent to conventional absorbable smooth sutures for soft tissue reapproximation in gynecology. 18,19 Future studies are necessary to determine the association between different types of barbed sutures and adhesion formation in humans and to evaluate the long-term tensile strength in myometrial defects repaired with different types of barbed sutures.…”

Use of affinity allows anti‐inflammatory and anti‐microbial dual release that matches suture wound resolution

“…The first FDA approved antibacterial suture was Vicryl Plus in 2002 . Made of a polyglactin suture coated with triclosan, it successfully reduced the risk of surgical site infections, and opened the door for the development of a variety of anti‐microbial suture types.…”

“…[19][20][21] The first FDA approved antibacterial suture was Vicryl Plus in 2002. 22,23 Made of a polyglactin suture coated with triclosan, it successfully reduced the risk of surgical site infections, 24,25 and opened the door for the development of a variety of anti-microbial suture types. The growing resistance to triclosan, 26 and a limit to the approved and effective usages of Vicryl Plus has caused sutures alternatives with improved properties to be desired.…”