Synthetic absorbable and nonabsorbable microsutures: a histological comparison

The increasing usage of microsurgery in gynaecology and the recent release of a synthetic absorbable microsuture prompted a comparative study between this material and a nonabsorbable microsuture. Ethilon and Coated Vicryl sutures (Ethicon Inc.) were inserted into rabbit uteri and the histological response compared at 35 and 70 days using both light and polarizing microscopy. The results indicated that although the predominating cell types differed, the overall histological sequelae were markedly less with the synthetic absorbable suture than with the nonabsorbable suture materials.