A RECENT STUDY ON SURGICAL SUTURE MATERIALS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE

A RECENT STUDY ON SURGICAL SUTURE MATERIALS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE

There are lots of surgical suture types to choose from, but they can be classified into two main categories which are absorbable and non-absorbable sutures. Absorbable sutures, as the name suggests, are absorbed by the human body over a period of time but non-absorbable sutures are left as they are or have to be removed. Many of those surgical sutures are synthetic and few of them natural-based since natural sutures are associated with inflammation and hypersensitivity reactions.

Although there are variety of surgical sutures that are made from different materials on the market for years, even decades, the autoimmune response of the body to these “foreign bodies” is not known extensively. There many published studies about post-surgery complications and rejections related with sutures including suture-related pseudoinfection (SPRI); however it is possible that negative bodily reactions are much more common than reported.

The study that is conducted by scientists from New Zealand shed light on this relatively obscure subject. In this study seven commonly used surgical suture materials, namely PGLA, PGCL, PA, silicon coated polyester, polybutilate coated polyester, UMMWPE and silk, were used in vitro assays in order to measure autoimmune response of the body. Human monocyte/macrophage THP-1 cells were exposed for one, three and five days to those materials and after these periods Gene expression along with protein secretion of six inflammatory cytokines and two cell surface markers were measured by qPCR and ELISA respectively. Moreover marker ratio is assessed.

Result of the study indicates that four of the tested suture materials, which are PGLA, silicon coated polyester, UHMWPE and silk, cause statistical significant upregulation of pro-inflammatory markers, which means early foreign body reaction and this autoimmune response causes delayed wound healing. More studies will help the surgeons to determine which suture to use in which areas in the future and in turn this will affect positive post-operation patient health.