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Updated: Mar 24, 2026
Tissue Engineering of the Intestine in a Murine Model
Published on: December 1, 2012
A stitch in time saves nine: suture technique does not affect intestinal growth in a young, growing animal model
Lori A Gurien1, Deidre L Wyrick2, Samuel D Smith2
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR; Department of Pediatric Surgery, Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, AR.
Insights
Simple interrupted suture and continuous running suture show no difference in intestinal growth in young rats. Continuous running techniques may offer faster operative times for pediatric bowel anastomosis without impacting growth.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Surgery
- Gastrointestinal Surgery
- Surgical Innovation
Background:
- Pediatric surgeons often prefer simple interrupted sutures for bowel anastomosis, believing it enhances postoperative intestinal growth compared to continuous running sutures.
- The actual impact of these anastomotic techniques on intestinal growth remains largely unexamined in pediatric models.
- This study investigates the effects of different anastomotic techniques on intestinal growth in a pediatric surgical context.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the effects of simple interrupted versus continuous running suture techniques on intestinal growth postoperatively.
- To evaluate the impact of anastomotic technique on intestinal diameter and burst pressure in a pediatric surgical model.
- To provide evidence-based insights for optimizing bowel anastomosis in pediatric surgery.
Main Methods:
- Young rats underwent small bowel transection and anastomosis using either simple interrupted or continuous running techniques.
- After a seven-week growth period, the anastomotic sites were resected for analysis.
- Measurements included anastomotic diameter, burst pressure, and body weight.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in body weight, anastomotic diameter, or burst pressure were observed between the two groups.
- A statistically smaller calculated circumference was noted in the simple interrupted group (p=0.03).
- No anastomotic line ruptures occurred in either group, indicating safety for both techniques.
Conclusions:
- This pilot study is the first to compare continuous running to simple interrupted intestinal anastomosis in a pediatric model, showing no difference in intestinal growth.
- Continuous running techniques for bowel anastomosis in young children may result in faster operative times.
- The findings suggest that continuous running techniques can be safely adopted without compromising intestinal growth in pediatric patients.
Background:
Although this issue remains unexamined, pediatric surgeons commonly use simple interrupted suture for bowel anastomosis, as it is thought to improve intestinal growth postoperatively compared to continuous running suture. However, effects on intestinal growth are unclear. We compared intestinal growth using different anastomotic techniques during the postoperative period in young rats.
Methods:
Young, growing rats underwent small bowel transection and anastomosis using either simple interrupted or continuous running technique. At 7-weeks postoperatively after a four-fold growth, the anastomotic site was resected. Diameters and burst pressures were measured.
Results:
Thirteen rats underwent anastomosis with simple interrupted technique and sixteen with continuous running method. No differences were found in body weight at first (102.46 vs 109.75g) or second operations (413.85 vs 430.63g). Neither the diameters (0.69 vs 0.79cm) nor burst pressures were statistically different, although the calculated circumference was smaller in the simple interrupted group (2.18 vs 2.59cm; p=0.03). No ruptures occurred at the anastomotic line.
Conclusions:
This pilot study is the first to compare continuous running to simple interrupted intestinal anastomosis in a pediatric model and showed no difference in growth. Adopting continuous running techniques for bowel anastomosis in young children may lead to faster operative time without affecting intestinal growth.
