suture2

**Absorbable Sutures**
Materials	Polyglactin 910 (eg. Vicryl, Ethicon)	Polyglycolic acid (eg. Dexon)	Plain gut	Chromic gut
Types	polyglactin 910 is made of glycolic acid and lactic acid coated Vicryl: polyglactin 910 coated with polyglactin 370 + calcium stearate (make the surface smoother and reduces tissue drag) Available as braided or monofilaments	* Dexon S: braided polyglycolic acid without coating * Dexon plus: treated with surface lubricant Poloxamer 188	*prepared from the mucosa or submucosal or sheep or beef intestines	*Plain gut tanned with chromic salt
Tissue reaction	*mild	*mild	*marked	*moderate
Tensile strength	*2- 3 weeks	*2-3 weeks	*1 week	*2-3 weeks
Other characteristics	*hydrolytic degradation	* hydrolytic degradation	*enzymatic degradation	*enzymatic degradation
Indications	*commonly used in strabimus surgery	*seldom used in anterior segment surgery	seldom used in anterior segment surgery used in lid surgery such as Weiss's procedure to encourage fibrosis	seldom used in anterior segment surgery used in lid surgery such as Weiss's procedure to encourage fibrosis

Note: Hydrolytic degradation elicits less reaction than enzymatic degradation.