Bacterial contamination of nylon corneal sutures

Abstract

We report the findings of a prospective study into the bacterial contamination of monofilament nylon sutures removed from corneal wounds following cataract surgery. Sutures were classified as tight, loose or broken at the time of removal. Loose and broken sutures showed significantly more bacterial contamination than tight sutures (p < 0.001, chi squared). Positive cultures were obtained from 2 (6.2%) of 32 tight sutures, 14 (38.9%) of 36 loose sutures and 11 (37.9%) of 29 broken sutures. Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most commonly isolated organism (isolated in pure growth from 22 (81.5%) of 27 positive cultures). These findings may explain the occasional association of biodegraded corneal monofilament nylon sutures and suppurative keratitis and highlight the potential risk of seeding a suture track infection at the time of suture removal. They also emphasise the need for prophylactic topical antibiotic when removing biodegraded sutures.