Atrial wound healing with polyglycolic acid and polypropylene sutures

The suitability of absorbable suture for atrial repair was tested in 25 rabbits in which atrial wounds were repaired with either polyglycolic acid or polypropylene suture. Tensile strength and wound thickness were measured at several time intervals up to 8 weeks after wounding. With each animal used as its own control, the ratio of wound tensile strength to that of unwounded atrium and of wound thickness to thickness of unwounded atrium were compared at several time intervals. There was no difference between polyglycolic acid and polypropylene suture lines in tensile strength index, but the wall thickness index was significantly lower for polyglycolic acid sutures. The latter finding was probably due to a less intense chronic inflammatory response in the polyglycolic acid group. Because of the necessity for maximal size and future growth of atrial anastomoses after repair of some congenital cardiac malformations, polyglycolic acid suture appears to be a reasonable alternative to nonabsorbable suture for atrial repair in children.