[Advantages of continuous resorbable mattress sutures in closing extensive laparotomies]

In a group of 170 patients the mean time taken to close the abdominal cavity was 10 minutes, suppuration and fistulation resp. was observed in 2% of patients after 6 weeks. In 1.1% dehiscence occurred and in 3.5% hernia in the scar. All this applies to patients with severe malignity and hypoproteinaemia. Smead Jones technique of a continuous absorbable suture without knots is not only quick, safe, effective, cheap but also reliable in risk patients and obese patients with impaired healing, but only when its basic principles are respected: reliable anchoring and termination in fasciae, regularly alternating distances of stitches.