A COMPARISON OF CONTINUOUS POLYGLYCONATE (MAXON®) AND INTERRUPTED SILK SUTURE FOR ABDOMINAL WOUND CLOSURE

The present study was designed to analyze the postoperative complications of abdominal wound closure in order to compare continuous polyglyconate (Maxon) suture used in 91 patients with interrupted silk sutures employed in 63 patients. Early postopertive evaluation revealed no significant differences between the continuous polyglyconate and interrupted silk suture groups with respect to wound dehiscence (1.1% vs 0%) and wound infection (9.9% vs 9.5%). Suture sinuses after 4 weeks were less common in continuous polyglyconate suture (2.2%), but were more frequently seen in the interrupted silk suture with a statistical significance (14.3%). Late evaluation after one year showed that wound pain was present in 5.7% of the continuous polyglyconate group whereas it was statistically more significant in the interrupted silk group (22.2%). Wound distension (4.30% vs 5.6%) and incisional hernia (7.1% vs 2.8%) occurred in a similar incidence in both types. The results of this trial indicate that continuous polyglyconate suture is as safe as interrupted silk suture, and is associated with a less incidence of wound pain or suture sinuses.