Triclosan-coated sutures for the prevention of surgical-site infections: a meta-analysis

The scope of this article is to perform a meta-analysis of the studies that compare the use of triclosan-coated sutures (TCS) to uncoated sutures in prevention of surgical-site infections (SSIs).

A systematic search of randomized and non-randomized studies was carried out on Pubmed and Scopus databases until July 2016.

The meta-analysis of 30 studies (19 randomized, 11 non-randomized; 15,385 procedures) gave evidence that TCS were associated with a lower risk of SSIs (risk ratio [RR] = 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.57-0.81). Triclosan-coated sutures were associated with lower risk for SSIs in high-quality randomized studies (Jadad score 4 or 5). A lower risk for the development of SSIs based on wound classification was observed in clean, clean-contaminated, and contaminated but not for dirty procedures. No benefit was observed in specific types of surgery: colorectal, cardiac, lower limb vascular or breast surgery. Only a trend was found for lower risk for wound dehiscence, whereas no difference was observed for all-cause mortality.

Further randomized studies are needed to confirm the role of TCS in specific surgical procedures and whether or not they are related with lower risk for mortality.