Polyglycolic acid versus chromic catgut in bladder surgery.

The clinical importance of calcified deposits on sutures in bladder surgery was evaluated in a blind paired randomised trial of 3/0 chromic catgut versus polyglycolic acid 3/0. Cystoscopy with photographic recording was performed 8 weeks after operation in 40 patients without and 8 patients with previous or present bladder stones. None had visible calcified deposits at that time and sutures were only visible in 1 patient from each of the 2 groups without bladder stones. It was concluded that neither chromic catgut nor polyglycolic acid sutures carry any significant risk of bladder stone formation, whether infection is present or not; the conclusion includes both patients with and without previous bladder stones, but is less firm in the former because of the small number of patients studied.