Quantitative evaluation of stiffness of commercial suture materials

The bending stiffness of 22 commercial suture materials of varying size, chemical structure and physical form was quantitatively evaluated using a stiffness tester (Taber V-5, model 150B, Teledyne). The commercial sutures were Chromic catgut; Dexon (polyglycolic acid); Vicryl (polyglactin 910); PDS (polydioxanone); Maxon (polyglycolide-trimethylene carbonate); Silk (coated with silicone); Mersilene (polyester fiber); Tycron (polyester fiber); Ethibond (polyethylene terephthalate coated with polybutylene); Nurolon (nylon 66); Surgilon (nylon 66 coated with silicone); Ethilon (coated nylon 66), Prolene (polypropylene); Dermalene (polyethylene), and Gore-tex (polytetraflouroethylene). These are both natural and synthetic, absorbable and nonabsorbable and monofilament and multifilament sutures. All of these sutures were size 2-0, but Prolene sutures with sizes ranging from 1-0 to 9-0 were also tested to determine the effect of suture size on stiffness. The bending stiffness data obtained showed that a wide range of bending stiffness was observed among the 22 commercial sutures. The most flexible 2-0 suture was Gore-tex, followed by Dexon, Silk, Surgilon, Vicryl (uncoated), Tycron, Nurolon, Mersilene, Ethibond, Maxon, PDS, Ethilon, Prolene, Chromic catgut, coated Vicryl, and lastly, Dermalene. The large porous volume inherent in Gore-tex monofilament suture was the reason for its lowest flexural stiffness. Sutures with a braided structure were generally more flexible than those of a monofilament structure, irrespective of the chemical constituents. Coated sutures had significantly higher stiffness than the corresponding uncoated ones. This is particularly true when polymers rather than wax were used as the coating material. This increase in stiffness is attributable to the loss of mobility under bending force in the fibers and yarns that make up the sutures. An increase in the size of the suture significantly increased the stiffness, and the magnitude of increase depended on the chemical constituent of the suture. The flexural stiffness of sutures was also found to depend on the duration of bending in the test for stiffness. In general, monofilament sutures exhibited the largest time-dependent stiffness. This was most pronounced with the Gore-tex suture. Most braided sutures also showed less time-dependence in stiffness. Nylon sutures did not exhibit this time-dependent phenomenon regardless of physical form.