Handling characteristics of poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) monofilament suture.

A monofilament suture made of poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) was examined by several mechanical tests to evaluate handling characteristics for tight tying. Six types of other monofilament sutures were also examined for comparisons. Two of these were nonabsorbable, while the others were absorbable sutures. Sutures consisting of glicolide were strongest among all the sutures examined. On the other hand, PROLENE and P(LA/CL) sutures showed high knot-pull strength despite low straight pull strength. Untying performance was evaluated by viscoelasticity, bending plasticity and tying test. A good correlation between tan delta and bending plasticity index was observed and the poly(L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone) suture exhibited high tan delta, high bending plasticity and good resistance against untying.