Intestinal anastomosis in the rat facilitated by a rapidly digested internal splint and indigestible but absorbable sutures.

A stenosis is produced when a rat's transected small intestine is repaired with a conventional inverting line of silk or catgut sutures. In the new technique, the cut surfaces are apposed over a splint made of dry macaroni of suitable diameter, and then joined end-to-end with polyglactin stitches. The internal splint is quickly softened and digested. The suture material is absorbed without concomitant inflammation, and does not interfere with the cutting of sections for histology. Examination revealed, in every case, a fully patent anastomosis with alignment of the layers of the intestinal wall. This is preferable to an inverting anastomosis for investigations of intestinal wound healing and for physiological studies of the propagation of movements along the gut.