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. 2019 Sep 4;12(18):2848.
doi: 10.3390/ma12182848.

Bacterial Adherence Around Sutures of Different Material at Grafted Site: A Microbiological Analysis

Lanka Mahesh  1 , Varun Raj Kumar  1 , Anshi Jain  2 , Sagrika Shukla  3 , Juan Manuel Aragoneses  4 , José María Martínez González  5 , Manuel Fernández-Domínguez  6 , José Luis Calvo-Guirado  7
Affiliations

Bacterial Adherence Around Sutures of Different Material at Grafted Site: A Microbiological Analysis

Lanka Mahesh et al. Materials (Basel). .

Abstract

Closure of the surgical incision has been the primary function of sutures since their introduction. However, whatever the type, they are known to carry bacteria, which can be a source of infection. Five types of surgical sutures, Gut, Silk, Vicryl, PTFE, and Polyamide, were selected and tested on their ability to carry aerobic and anaerobic bacteria and were rated on the basis of forming colony-forming units (CFUs). Aerobic bacteria grown around gut sutures showed minimum CFUs (≈30 × 104/suture). Though very less anaerobic bacteria growth was seen among all tested suture materials, it was maximum around Vicryl and polyamide sutures. Every suture material is capable, albeit not equally, of holding bacterial biofilm formation, which can be a source of surgical site infection.

Keywords: PTFE; Vicryl; dental sutures; gut; polyamide; silk.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Silk suture; (b) Vicryl: coated polyglactin; (c) Gut suture; (d) PTFE: synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene; (e) polyamide suture.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Aerobic bacteria grown around gut sutures, (b) anaerobic bacteria grown around gut sutures.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Aerobic bacteria grown around silk sutures, (b) anaerobic bacteria grown around silk sutures.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Aerobic bacteria grown around PTFE sutures, (b) anaerobic bacteria grown around PTFE sutures.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Aerobic bacteria grown around polyamide sutures, (b) anaerobic bacteria grown around polyamide sutures.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(a) Aerobic bacteria grown around Vicryl sutures, (b) anaerobic bacteria grown around Vicryl sutures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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