Influence of surgical sutures on wound healing

Historical data on closing and suturing of surgical wounds describe a wide range of various suture materials. The choice of the surgical catgut, i.e. the type and diameter, depends on the locality, characteristics and condition of the tissue to be treated. From the standpoint of oral-surgical practice the following clinical parameters are of outstanding importance with respect to the selection of suture material: accumulation of soft deposits on the sutures, score of the adjacent soft tissues and dehiscence of the operative wound. Our prospective clinical study included 150 patients distributed into three groups of 50 subjects. The surgical procedure performed on each patient involved resection (apicotomy) of the tooth root end in the intercanine sector of the upper jaw. The following suture materials were applied: Black Silc 5-0, Nylon 5-0 and Vicryl 5-0. The effects of the selected sutures were evaluated according to the wound dehiscence. The effects of the applied sutures were recorded on Days 2, 5 and 7 after the surgery. The comparison of cited parameters of the investigated materials after suturing the oral mucosa revealed that none of the used material was ideal; however, a certain advantage might be given to the synthetic monofilament suture materials.