title: Effect of intra-abdominal absorbable sutures on surgical site infection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To establish whether the rates of surgical site infection (SSI) in gastrointestinal surgery are affected by the type of intra-abdominal suturing: sutureless, absorbable material (polyglactin: Vicryl), and silk.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted SSI surveillance prospectively at 25 hospitals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall SSI rate was 14.4% (130/903). The SSI rates in the sutureless, Vicryl, and silk groups were 4.8, 14.8, and 16.4%, respectively, without significant differences among the groups. In colorectal surgery, the SSI rate in the Vicryl group was 13.9%, which was significantly lower than that of the silk group (22.4%; P = 0.034). The incidence of deeper SSIs in the Vicryl group, including deep incisional and organ/space SSIs, was significantly lower than that in the silk group (P = 0.04). The SSI rates did not differ among the suture types overall, in gastric surgery, or in appendectomy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using intra-abdominal absorbable sutures instead of silk sutures may reduce the risk of SSI, but only in colorectal surgery.
authors: Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. watanabe@kaizuka-hosp.or.jp
authors: Akihiro
authors: A
authors: Watanabe
authors: Shunji
authors: S
authors: Kohnoe
authors: Hideto
authors: H
authors: Sonoda
authors: Ken
authors: K
authors: Shirabe
authors: Kengo
authors: K
authors: Fukuzawa
authors: Soichiro
authors: S
authors: Maekawa
authors: Hiroyuki
authors: H
authors: Matsuda
authors: Masayuki
authors: M
authors: Kitamura
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Matsuura
authors: Takeharu
authors: T
authors: Yamanaka
authors: Yoshihiro
authors: Y
authors: Kakeji
authors: Shunichi
authors: S
authors: Tsujitani
authors: Yoshihiko
authors: Y
authors: Maehara
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011098:Polyglactin 910; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D047011:Silk; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013537:Sutures / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D047011:Silk; D011098:Polyglactin 910