Tissue reaction to suture materials revisited: is there argument to change our views?

Tissue reactivity to ten different suture materials (silk, plain catgut, chrome catgut, tevdek, ticron, ethibond, vicryl, dexon, maxon and prolene) was evaluated on the basis of conventional microscopic assessment of eight histologic parameters at 7 days following surgery in the rat. Each suture material was placed at different localizations in the abdominal facial layer of 6 rats, thus a total of 60 rats were operated on. A completely standardized and reproducible system of microscopic assessment was used. Weighed discriminant sum values of these parameters showed no systematic differences between tissue reaction to these sutures. The computed addition of all possible magnitudes of weighing factors to the tissue reactivity parameters did not change this negative result. Discriminant analysis showed that it is unlikely that conventional histologic parameters of tissue reaction constitute a single concept like 'tissue reactivity'. It is concluded that at 7 days after surgery the effect of surgical trauma still nullifies the possible differences between suture materials with respect to tissue reaction. Minimizing surgical trauma should, therefore, be reappraised as more important for physiologic wound healing than the use of biocompatible sutures.