Suture Type  Monofilament
Reference Guide for Suture Use in Small Animals Synthetic or
or Multifilament
Natural
Absorbable or Nonabsorbable
Absorbable (60d) Absorbable
Important Considerations
PDS Silk Nylon
Multifilament  Natural
Nonabsorbable Nonabsorbable Nonabsorbable
Risk of severe foreign body reactions Never use gut in infected sites or tissues as the presence of macrophages will cause much more rapid loss of tensile strength and increase risk of dehiscence Tensile strength decreases in alkaline environments Most pliable of monofilaments
the knot deep Loses tensile strength when wet Byproducts are antimicrobial Good for use in contaminated wounds
Catgut Chromic Gut  Multifilament  Natural
Vicryl Monocryl  Monofilament  Synthetic  Absorbable (7d)
Multifilament  Synthetic  Absorbable (14d) Monofilament  Synthetic  Absorbable (4wks)  More reactive when used intradermally so be sure to bury Multifilament  Natural Monofilament  Synthetic
Polypropylene  Monofilament  Synthetic
	 •  General notes
o  Natural suture material is usually degraded by phagocytosis, while synthetic suture material is usually degraded by
hydrolysis o  All absorbable sutures lose their tensile strength within 60 days o  Suture sizing in small animals
§  Usually between 4-0 and 0
•  4-0 commonly used for delicate tissues like intestine, bladder, SQ tissue •  3-0 commonly used in abdominal closure in cats •  2-0 or 0 for abdominal closure in dogs
§  Smaller than 4-0 usually used for tissues like the cornea §  Larger than 0 tends to be used in extremely large dogs or in large animal species
