[Comparative experimental study of inverting and everting sutures in the colon]

The authors carried out 88 sutures of the ascending colon in Wistar rats, 44 in inversion and the remainder in eversion. The suture material used was monofilament 9/0 nylon. The intestinal diameter was measured using an instrument and the healing process studied by means of the following parameters: granulocytes, oedema, fibrin, fibroblasts and re-epithelialisation of the mucosa, on histology. The results prove that inverted sutures heal within 10 days, whereas everted sutures are not healed after 17 days. Furthermore, we demonstrated the fact that, after 72 hours, the intestinal caliber above the suture showed no appreciable differences compared with that of the normal colon.