A clinical and an experimental study of suture sinuses in abdominal wounds

A retrospective clinical study of suture sinuses in abdominal wounds has been undertaken with a review of the hospital records of 30 patients. Twenty-six of the 31 suture sinuses reviewed were associated with monofilament suture material, and a knot of this type of material was removed from 15 sinuses. It is suggested that optimal management requires exploration of a suture sinus done under general anesthesia and secondary intention healing of the resulting wound. The importance of the knot of monofilament material in the causation of suture sinuses, suggested by the results of clinical study, was investigated in an experimental study. However, the studies failed to demonstrate that a knot of suture material provides the nidus of infection from which a wound sinus may develop.