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Effect of intra-abdominal absorbable sutures on surgical site infection

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Abstract

Purpose

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.

Conclusion

Using intra-abdominal absorbable sutures instead of silk sutures may reduce the risk of SSI, but only in colorectal surgery.

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Conflict of interest

Y. Maehara received a research grant from Johnson & Johnson KK, Japan. The other authors have no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Surgical Site Infection Study Group, Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan

    Akihiro Watanabe, Shunji Kohnoe, Hideto Sonoda, Ken Shirabe, Kengo Fukuzawa, Soichiro Maekawa, Hiroyuki Matsuda, Masayuki Kitamura, Hiroshi Matsuura, Takeharu Yamanaka, Yoshihiro Kakeji, Shunichi Tsujitani & Yoshihiko Maehara

Authors
  1. Akihiro Watanabe
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  2. Shunji Kohnoe
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  3. Hideto Sonoda
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  4. Ken Shirabe
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  5. Kengo Fukuzawa
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  6. Soichiro Maekawa
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  7. Hiroyuki Matsuda
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  8. Masayuki Kitamura
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  9. Hiroshi Matsuura
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  10. Takeharu Yamanaka
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  11. Yoshihiro Kakeji
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  12. Shunichi Tsujitani
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  13. Yoshihiko Maehara
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Correspondence to Akihiro Watanabe.

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Watanabe, A., Kohnoe, S., Sonoda, H. et al. Effect of intra-abdominal absorbable sutures on surgical site infection. Surg Today 42, 52–59 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-011-0024-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-011-0024-5

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