The effect of bacteria on absorbable sutures.

In vitro and in vivo experiments were performed on polyglycolic acid and plain catgut sutures to study the effects of bacteria on their rate of degradation. Experiments with Strep, mites, E. coli and Staph. albus in culture showed that the polyglycolic acid sutures degraded faster in broth controls than in a broth containing bacteria as measured by the loss in breaking strength. No difference was observed with the catgut. Polyglycolic acid sutures in subcutaneous sites in rats inoculated with Staph. albus again degrade slower than in similar wounds which were not deliberately infected. With high bacterial counts, the catgut showed the reverse trend although no differences were noted at lower counts.