Exclusive use of absorbable suture threads in cleft lip and palate

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

The treatment of orofacial clefts comprises steps that may result in considerable psychological trauma for patients and their caregivers. The use of absorbable sutures may help to eliminate these uncomfortable situations. However, the exclusive use of this synthetic material is still not preferred by surgeons, particularly in the muscle planes.

Methods:

Data from patients who underwent surgery at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro from 2007 to 2014 were used. The patients underwent correction of cleft lip or palate, using only absorbable sutures (poliglecaprone 25 - Monocryl® or polyglactin 910 - Vicryl Rapide®) in all suture planes (mucosa, muscle, skin).

Results:

We found 360 patients who met the inclusion criteria for this study. We did not observe differences in terms of the local appearance of the wounds during the suture absorption process. The incidence of dehiscence or fistula cases was below 1%, and there were no complications regarding the objectives of the study. In the long term, the scars did not differ from those obtained with non-absorbable sutures used in other types of surgeries.

Conclusions:

The exclusive use of absorbable sutures was shown to be an efficient and safe option. These resulted in good quality scars and adequate tensile strength (even in muscle planes), and we did not observe complications related to the absorption process of the material used.

Keywords:
Healing; Suture threads; Cleft lip surgery; Cleft palate surgery; Psychological stress.