A Comparative Study of the Use of 9-0 PDS and 9-0 Ethilon in Microvascular Anastomosis

The search for a superior absorbable surgical suture has been underway for years. The synthetic materials have been shown to have certain advantages over the use of the familiar natural absorbable gut sutures. Specially, since synthtic absorbable sutures are degraded by simple hydrosis rather than by phagocytosis. they elicit a minimal tissue reaction.

A newly-developed absorbable monofilament, poly-dioxanone(PDS, Ethicon) has certain adventages : it passes easily through tissues retains its tensile strength for a long time, and produces minimal tissue reaction.

9-0 absorbable polydioxanone(PDS) has been compared to 9-0 nonabsorbable Ethilon in order to evaluate any advantages of either suture in microvascular surgery. In each of 45 rats, one femoral artery was anastomosed end-to-end with PDS and the other with Ethilon. Specimen were harvested 48hr. 14day and two months post operatively. Histologic analysis of inflammation, fibrosis, and medial necrosis of the anastomoses revealed no significant differences between the two materials. There was no difference as regards stenosis and aneurysm formation, when evaluated independently by the two methods.

It can be concluded that the amount of inflammation and fibrosis leading to stenosis is related to the amount of trauma at the time of surgery and not to the type of suturing material used.