This document discusses surgical threads used to hold tissues together after injury or surgery. It describes the history of sutures dating back 4000 years and their modern development. Surgical threads are classified as either resorbable, which degrade in the body over time, or non-resorbable, which must be removed. Examples of commonly used resorbable threads include PGA and Vicryl, while non-resorbable options include silk, polyamide, and polypropylene. The conclusion states that suture selection depends on multiple factors related to the tissue, surgical technique, and surgeon preference.

1. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Surgical threads
Abdoulanziz Abdillah
2013-2014

2. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Introduction
Definition
Surgical thread medical device used to hold body tissues together
after an injury or surgery.
Historic
• Smith papyrus 1862, 4000 years before Christ.
• ligate artery by Abu Al-Qasim (Al-Tasrif, around. 1000), Henri de
Mondeville (Chirurgia, 1306-1320) and Ambroise Paré(1543)
•20 th century ; synthetic thread by B. Braun in 1935 and Supramid
de BASF in 1939
Classification
•Resorbable thread
•Non resorbable thread

3. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Resorbable thread
 Used on deep wound
 Total absence of foreign in the body after few time
 Broken down by hydrolysis (polyglycolic acid) and proteolytic enzymatic degradation
Examples
 PGA
high strength modulus (7 GPa) particularly stiff.
hydrolytic instability; presence of the ester linkage backbone
good tolerance
 Vicryl
2 to 3 weeks in tissues
hydrolytic degradation ; 60-90days
strength tensile;
 Used in patients who cannot return for suture removal, or in internal body tissues
.

4. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Non resorbable thread
• Used on skin wound closure, where the sutures can be removed after or in
stressful internal environments where absorbable sutures will not suffice.
Examples heart (constant pressure and movement) bladder (with adverse
chemical conditions).
Example
Silk
Polyamide6,6
resistant
easier handling
Very flexible
flexible, inelastic
excellent narrowing nodes
Polypropylen
Unalterable
Without tissue reaction
Good tissue compatibility
• Often cause less scarring because provoke less immune response, used where
cosmetic outcome is important. They must be removed after a certain time, or
left permanently.

5. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Conclusion
• Surgical sutures are a class of very complex medical devices ,
characterized by multiple parameters at the thread.
• large number of products and references available to surgeons.
• choosing multifactorial and based on nature of the tissue, the type of
suture to achieve or surgical technique , but also on subjective criteria that
depend more on sensation and personal impressions of each surgeon ,
habits and experience .

6. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Bibliography
[1].Jean-Noël MAURER, EVALUATION DE L’UTILISATION DES SUTURES
ET DES LIGATYRES CHIRURGICALES AU C.H.U DE NANCY,
UNIVERSITE HENRI POINCARE - NANCY 1, 2004
[2]. JORDANA, J.COLAT-PARROS, FILS DE SUTURES ET COLLES
CHIRURGICALES, Société Francophone de Biomatériaux Dentaires, 20092010, p 4-13
[3]. SONIA TREMBLAY, DIEGO MANTOVANI, les fils de sutures :de fil en
aiguille, BIOMATERIAUX , p 4-8
[4].WIKIPEDIA,sutures(medecine),http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suture_(m
%C3%A9decine)#Fils_r.C3.A9sorbables

7. Master Chimie, Ingénierie de la santé, Biomatériaux
Bibliography
[1].Jean-Noël MAURER, EVALUATION DE L’UTILISATION DES SUTURES
ET DES LIGATYRES CHIRURGICALES AU C.H.U DE NANCY,
UNIVERSITE HENRI POINCARE - NANCY 1, 2004
[2]. JORDANA, J.COLAT-PARROS, FILS DE SUTURES ET COLLES
CHIRURGICALES, Société Francophone de Biomatériaux Dentaires, 20092010, p 4-13
[3]. SONIA TREMBLAY, DIEGO MANTOVANI, les fils de sutures :de fil en
aiguille, BIOMATERIAUX , p 4-8
[4].WIKIPEDIA,sutures(medecine),http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suture_(m
%C3%A9decine)#Fils_r.C3.A9sorbables