[Photo courtesy of Ethicon]
Antimicrobial suture technology coats the antiseptic triclosan onto synthetic, absorbable, polymeric sutures. The broad-spectrum antiseptic fights against typical surgical pathogens like Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
The safe amount of triclosan that can be placed on the sutures and still be optimal for reducing surgical site infections is a maximum of 2360 µg/m in polydioxanone and coated poliglecaprone sutures, and 472 µg/m in coated polyglactin sutures, according to the research, published in the British Journal of Surgery. The lead author was Dr. David Leaper, a medical sciences professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
Other study authors included an expert at Johnson & Johnson, which makes antimicrobial sutures through its Ethicon subsidiary.
One study analysis showed that in 21 clinical trials, 138 surgical sites out of 1,000 procedures were at risk for a surgical site infection. If the sutures were coated in triclosan, however, the risk of an SSI was reduced by 39.
Economically, 34 studies showed that triclosan sutures averaged $112.58 in savings compared to non-antimicrobial-coated sutures.
The World Health Organization recently recommended triclosan-coated sutures for preventing SSIs in the new “Global Guidelines for the Prevention of Surgical Site Infections.”
[Want to stay more on top of MDO content? Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter.]
