Ethicon Surgical Gut Suture – Plain, Taper Point

Expiration Date:

G322H: Jan 2018

Overview
Fast absorbing surgical gut suture is a strand of collagenous material prepared from the submucosal layers of the small intestine of healthy sheep, or from the serosal layers of the small intestine of healthy cattle.

Fast absorbing surgical gut sutures are intended for dermal (skin) suturing only. They should be utilized only for external knot tying procedures.

Description

Fast absorbing surgical gut sutures are intended for dermal (skin) suturing only. They should be utilized only for external knot tying procedures.

Fast absorbing surgical gut sutures, being absorbable, should not be used where prolonged approximation of tissue under stress is required. These sutures have been designed to absorb at a rapid rate and must be used on dermal tissue only. These sutures should never be used on internal tissue.

When fast-absorbing surgical gut suture is placed in tissue, a moderate tissue inflammation occurs, which is characteristic of foreign body response to a substance. This is followed by loss of tensile strength and a loss of suture mass, as the proteolytic enzymatic digestive process dissolves the surgical gut. This process continues until the suture is completely absorbed.

In studies of fast absorbing surgical gut sutures in the skin of animals indicate that nearly all of its original strength is lost within approximately seven (7) days of implantation.

Many variable factors may affect the rate of absorption. Some of the major factors which can affect tensile strength loss and absorption rates are:

• Type of suture: plain gut generally absorbs more rapidly than chromic gut
• Infection: surgical gut is absorbed more rapidly in infected tissue than non-infected tissue
• Tissue sites: surgical gut will absorb more rapidly in tissue where increased levels of proteolytic enzymes are present, as in the secretions exhibited in the stomach, cervix and vagina