Product Manual

and poloxamer 188. Coating the polybutester suture markedly reduces its drag forces
in musculoaponeurotic, colonic, and vascular tissue. Knot security with the Vascufil™
suture was achieved with only one more throw than with comparably sized, uncoated
polybutester sutures. On the basis of the results of our investigations, coating the
polybutester suture represents another major advance in surgical suture performance.
2. Absorbable surgical sutures
The absorbable sutures of Covidien are made from either collagen or synthetic
polymers. The collagen sutures are derived from the serosal layer of bovine small
intestine (gut). This collagenous tissue is treated with an aldehyde solution, which
cross-links and strengthens the suture and makes it more resistant to enzymatic
degradation. Suture materials treated in this way are called plain gut (Plain Gut). If
the suture is additionally treated with chromium trioxide, it becomes chromic gut
(Chromic Gut), which is more highly cross-linked than plain gut and more resistant
to absorption. When this treatment of collagen sutures is limited, the result is a special
form of chromic gut (Mild Gut) that is more susceptible to tissue absorption. The
plain gut and chromic gut sutures are composed of several plies that have been twisted
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