Abdominal wound closure. A comparison of polydioxanone, polypropylene, and Teflon-coated braided Dacron sutures

A midline abdominal wound was made in 135 Harlan Sprague-Dawley rats, and the fascia was then closed by the continuous suture technique with 4-0 absorbable monofilament polydioxanone sutures (n = 45 rats), 4-0 permanent monofilament polypropylene sutures (n = 45 rats), or 4-0 Teflon-coated braided Dacron sutures (n = 45 rats). At 1-, 2-, and 6-month intervals, wound-bursting pressures were determined in 15 animals from each group. At 1 month and at 6 months, there was no significant difference in wound-bursting strength among the three types of sutures. At 2 months, wounds closed with Teflon-coated braided Dacron were significantly stronger than wounds closed with the other types of sutures. In most of the braided Dacron suture animals, the fascia burst in areas other than the abdominal wound, indicating that the wound was stronger at that time than was the surrounding fascia. There is no advantage to that added strength, and braided Dacron sutures have been shown to cause greater tissue reaction than monofilament sutures. Therefore, except in patients with poor wound healing who are highly susceptible to dehiscence and in whom permanent low-tissue-reaction sutures may be beneficial, the authors recommend a running suture technique using absorbable monofilament suture, such as polydioxanone, for the routine closure of clean abdominal wounds.