[Sutures in digestive surgery]

Anastomotic leakage remains the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in digestive surgery. Despite the development of new surgical techniques and devices, intestinal anastomose continue to be complicated by leakage even in the best and most experienced of hands. One may explain the persistence of anastomotic leakage in spite of these technical advances on the basis of the dynamic effect that multiple factors (shock, peritoneal sepsis, inadequate intestinal preparation, advanced age, malignancy, malnutrition, coagulopathy, steroid dependence, uremia, radiation therapy, diabetes, perforation, anemia, fecal soiling and deficiency of vitamin C, iron and zinc) have on the healing of an anastomosis. Awareness of these factors and proper precautions by the surgeon can make a high-risk anastomosis less prone to leakage. Collagen is the essential material for composing an anastomosis and the basis of a good surgical suture. Recognition an correction of factors that compromise collagen synthesis, should be the goal of the surgeon. Over the years, numerous anastomotic techniques have been proposed, but the search for the ideal technical anastomosis goes on. Traditional inverting methods ignore the basic principle of accurately opposing clean-cut tissues, and temporary clamping of the gut and crushing of mucosal tissue by intraluminal sutures may damage the microcirculation. Submucosa should always be included in the formation of an anastomosis because it is the strongest intestinal layer and because the collagen has its origin and its synthesis just in submucosa. Monofilament sutures may be more desirable for anastomosis. Staple sutures have minimum tissue reaction. Single layer extramucosal technique has many of the attributes of an ideal intestinal anastomosis. Single interrupted and continuous sutures are not opposite and both give satisfactory results.