Advantages Of Monofilament Suture

The advantage of monofilament sutures are that because of their simplified structure, they encounter less resistance while passing through tissue and they resist harbouring organisms hence this make them ideal for vascular suturing .the disadvantages are that because of their construction care must be taken in handling and tying the suture as any crushing can weaken the suture also they are not very pliable so they need multiple throws so as to prevent knot loosening .

Multifilament sutures on the other hand affords greater tensile strength, pliability, and flexibility. Multifilament sutures may also be coated so as to help them pass relatively smoothly through tissue and enhance handling characteristics. Coated multifilament sutures are

They are prepared either from the collagen of healthy mammals or from synthetic polymers. Some are absorbed rapidly, while others are treated or chemically structured to lengthen absorption time. They may also be impregnated or coated with agents that improve their handling properties, and colored with an FDA-approved dye to increase visibility in tissue. While natural absorbable sutures are enzymatically degraded and broken down, synthetic absorbable sutures are hydrolyzed—a process which results in a lesser degree of tissue reaction following implantation. During the first stage of the absorption process which occurs over the first several weeks postimplantation, tensile strength diminishes in a gradual, almost linear fashion. In the ensuing second stage which considerably overlaps with the first stage there is loss of suture mass. In both the stages there is leukocytic cellular responses which remove cellular debris and suture material from the suture line. The loss of tensile strength and the rate of absorption are not dependent on each other. A suture can lose tensile strength rapidly and yet be absorbed slowly—or it can maintain adequate tensile strength through wound healing, followed by rapid absorption. Utimately the strand is eventually completely dissolved with no traces in the tissue. Apart from the obvious advantages,

They are made from non-biodegradable materials and are ultimately encapsulated or walled off by the body’s fibroblasts. Non-absorbable sutures ordinarily remain where they are buried within the tissues. When used for skin closure, they must be removed postoperatively. Nonabsorbable sutures may be used in a variety of applications:

• Skin closure, to be removed after sufficient healing has occurred.

• Inside body cavity, where they will remain permanently encapsulated in tissue.

• in patients with a history of reaction to absorbable sutures, keloidal tendency, or possible tissue hypertrophy.

• Prosthesis attachment (i.e., defibrillators, pacemakers, drug delivery