Hypersensitivity to chromated catgut sutures: a case report and review of the literature.

Chromated catgut sutures are used extensively in general surgical procedures. Although delayed hypersensitivity reactions to this material are difficult to diagnose post-operatively--ie, they may be interpreted as non-specific complications of surgery--the condition can be readily evaluated by patch testing with chromate or intracutaneous placement of the actual suture material. Multiple reports in the literature suggested that there was an increased frequency of post-operative adhesions, wound dehiscence, infection, and even intestinal obstruction along the line of suture material to which the patient had been sensitized during a previous surgery. Particularly with the widespread availability of fully synthetic suture materials, which appear to be less sensitizing, an increased awareness of chromate hypersensitivity in patients undergoing repeated surgical procedures may decrease the frequency of subsequent inflammatory post-operative complications. We report a patient with a history of multiple abdominal surgical procedures, eosinophilic cystitis surrounding the suture material, prolonged post-operative pain, and inflammatory masses at the sites of previous surgery associated with a positive delayed hypersensitivity skin reaction to patch test chromate and to intradermal chromic catgut.