Stainless steel wire for closure of abdominal operative wounds.

In this prospective study, the abdominal wounds of 500 consecutive patients were closed with buried retention monofilament stainless steel wire. The strength of the suture material, the rapidity of the closure, the very low 0.4% dehiscence rate and the almost total lack of wound complications seems to override the relatively minor inconvenience of handling the wire. These results seem to justify the rountine use of this method of wound closure in abdominal surgery, especially in the elderly and high-risk patients.