[Behavior of modern suture materials in infected urine]

The recently developed absorbable materials demonstrate a constant and reproducible high quality when compared with the resorbable suture materials. However, based on in vitro studies by different authors the use of these materials in infected urine is not recommended. We investigated in vivo in infected urines the stability of the suture materials composed of polyglycolic acid, and compared the results obtained in vitro and in vivo. In a controlled study the stability of the absorbable suture materials polyglycolic acid, polyglactin 910 and polydioxanon 4/0 USP were tested in infected urine in vivo and in vitro. In 21 patients with infected urine the suture materials were placed into the bladder for 7 days. In another experiment these materials were incubated up to 7 days in culture flasks with infected urine. After that the suture materials were examined by densitometry and electrone microscopy. When using the results obtained in vitro in clinical work caution is recommended. However, the in vivo tests show that the stability of the newly developed absorbable materials is not influenced dramatically by the infected urine.