[Preliminary clinical experience with antibacterial surgical sutures].

Surgical sutures made of Letilan-Lavsan and polyvinyl alcohol fibers with morphocycline and neomycin and filamentous Letilan were applied in 802 patients in the past 4 years. These sutures display considerable antibacterial properties. The antibacterial effect of Letilan-Lavsan sutures is reduced during the healing because of formation of fibrous capsules, the fibers themselves not being deprived of their antibacterial properties for a long period. The Letilan fibers undergo gradual fragmentation and degradation. The antibacterial properties of polyvinyl alcohol fibers added with morphocycline and neomycin are retained for 2 months in the body tissues. The antibacterial Letilan-Lavsan sutures and filamentous Letilan sutures can be sterilized by autoclaving, applying hydrogen peroxide--formic acid mixture, gamma irradiation and ethylene oxide. The unsterilized antibacterial sutures can be used as cutaneous sutures in surgical procedures.