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Volume 8, Issue 6 (Suppl)
J Bioremediat Biodegrad, an open access journal
ISSN:2155-6199
Biopolymers & Bioplastics 2017
October 19-20, 2017
October 19-20, 2017 San Francisco, USA
7
th
International Conference and Exhibition on
Biopolymers and Bioplastics
Comparison of polydioxanone and polyhydroxyalkanoate barbed and non-barbed surgical sutures: The
effect of hydrolytic degradation on mechanical and morphological properties
Hui Cong
1
, Martin W. King
1
, Greogry L. Ruff
2
, Simon C. Roe
3
and
Jacqueline H. Cole
4
1
College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, USA
2
55 Vilcom Center, North Carolina, USA
3
College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, USA
4
Joint Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina, USA
Introduction:
Since approved by the US FDA in 2004, barbed surgical sutures have been applied to various fields, such as cosmetic,
orthopedic, urological and other types of surgeries. Polydioxanone (PDO) is a well-studied absorbable suture material. An innovative
biopolymer, poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB) manufactured by Tepha Inc. has been converted to various resorbable medical devices,
including sutures. Both polymers are hydrolytically degraded in the body and the byproducts are metabolized and eliminated from
the body without cytotoxic effects. Given the increased surface of barbed sutures, the purpose of the study was to compare the rate of
change in mechanical and morphological properties of the hydrolytically degraded PDO and P4HB barbed and non-barbed sutures.
Methods:
PDO and P4HB barbed sutures were fabricated with a laboratory mechanical cutting machine. Suture segments were
immersed in PBS and stored in an incubator shaker maintained at 37°C. Suture samples were extracted every week for 10 weeks for
measurement of weight, tensile properties and morphology.
Results:
During the 10-week study, the weight loss of PDO suture was 6.5%, while there was no weight loss for the P4HB sutures. The
cutting of barbs on suture’s surface resulted in 42% and 62% strength loss for PDO and P4HB barbed sutures compared with non-
barbed ones. Starting with same level of maximum tensile strength of 30 N, P4HB barbed sutures maintained 66% higher strength
than PDO barbed sutures after 8 weeks and maintained at least 60% strength during 10-week hydrolysis (Figure 1.). SEM images
indicated the integrity of barbs was maintained for both materials during the process of hydrolytic degradation.
Conclusions:
P4HB barbed sutures have a longer degradation profile compared with PDO and significantly higher strength retention.
In addition to the prolonged degradation profile, anchoring performance should be measured first
in vitro
and then
in vivo
to verify
the unique characteristics of P4HB barbed sutures.
hcong@ncsu.eduJ Bioremediat Biodegrad 2017, 8:6 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-6199-C1-012