Synthetic polyglycomer short-term absorbable sutures vs. polydioxanone long-term absorbable sutures for preventing incisional hernia and wound dehiscence after abdominal wall closure: a comparative randomized study of patients treated for gastric or colon cancer

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the results of abdominal wall closure using interrupted synthetic short-term vs. long-term tensile strength-retaining absorbable sutures.

Methods: The subjects were 55 patients undergoing elective laparotomy through a midline vertical incision for gastric or colon cancer surgery between November 2008 and August 2010, at our hospital. After providing informed consent, the patients were randomized for suturing with Polysorb(®), which provides short-term tensile strength, or with PDS(®)II, which provides long-term strength. The primary outcome analyzed was the incidence of incisional hernia or wound dehiscence.

Result: There were 28 patients allocated to the Polysorb group and 27 to the PDS II group. Postoperative wound dehiscence was noted in two patients (3.6%). Five of 51 patients (9.8%) suffered incisional hernia within 1 year after surgery, 6 of 41 patients (14.6%) within 2 years, and 6 of 35 patients (17.1%) within 3 years. There was no significant per year difference in the incidence of incisional hernia or wound dehiscence between the groups.

Conclusion: Outcomes were favorable in both groups and not inferior to reported outcomes of larger-scale studies. Verification of the equivalence between the two types of suture material necessitates larger-scale studies that adopt the same suture methods.