Clinical use of polyglycolic acid polymer as a new absorbable synthetic suture

The use of polyglycolic acid sutures was evaluated in 126 operations performed upon 118 unselected patients. The material appears to compare favorably with other sutures with respect to handling, tensile strength, knot security, lack of toxicity, and minimal tissue reaction. PGA did not interfere with wound healing, and the material was well tolerated in both clean and contaminated operations, including thirty-five operations in which PGA was used skin to skin. We believe PGA is the first practicable synthetic absorbable suture material. It is a nonproteinaceous, polymeric fiber which is predictably absorbed in vivo, and approaches the requirements of a "universal" suture material.