Absorbable and nonabsorbable sutures in microsurgery: standardized comparable studies in rats.

In order to study the applicability and value of synthetic absorbable suture materials in microvascular surgery, 8-0 monofilament nonabsorbable polyamide sutures and 8-0 absorbable polyglycolic acid and polyglactin 910 sutures were used in end-to-end anastomoses of the aorta in rats, employing the same microsurgical model for all procedures. Comparable investigations of the anastomotic sites were carded out macroscopically and histologically at various intervals postoperatively. It was found that when placed under unphysiologic strain, microvascular anastomoses sutured with absorbable materials had less mechanical endurance than anastomoses stitched with nonabsorbable suture materials. It was also found, however, that this had no significance in vivo, inasmuch as no vascular ruptures or aneurysms appeared with either the absorbable or nonabsorbable sutures even after long-term observation. The nonabsorbable sutures were fully recognizable up to 150 days, microscopically showing clear evidence of granuloma formation. The absorbable sutures, on the other hand, could hardly be discerned after 50 days, and after 150 days the foreign body and scar reactions had almost completely disappeared. Absorbable suture materials lead to more rapid restitution of the vascular wall than nonabsorbable sutures and consequently appear to be superior.