The scientific basis for selecting surgical sutures.

The purpose of this study was to examine the handling properties of synthetic absorbable and monofilament polypropylene sutures made by two different manufacturers and to compare a subjective evaluation by surgeons to the results of standardized biomechanical performance tests. The surgeons' clinical subjective evaluation of the monofilament polypropylene sutures correlated with the results of the biomechanical performance studies, whereas the biomechanical evaluation of the two synthetic absorbable sutures detected notable differences in their performance. These distinct differences in biomechanical performance of the absorbable sutures did not alter their performance in the subjective clinical evaluation.