Modern medicine is constantly updated with all sorts of new products. The catgut thread is one of them, with its help you can make a self-absorbable suture, which you do not need to especially monitor and go to dressings and removal to the hospital. It is safe and practical. With its help, internal seams are made, which after a time are absorbed independently. This is very convenient, since you do not need to lie in a hospital for a long time under the supervision of doctors.
Catgut
Catgut translates as " cattle intestines ." What is catgut? This is a self-absorbable suture material, which is used in surgical practice. For its manufacture using purified connective tissue. The most commonly used tissue is from the serous layer of the intestines of livestock or the submucous part of the intestines of the sheep. Another material used in the musical craft, namely, as strings for instruments.
How to make
As already mentioned, for its manufacture, the muscle layer of the intestine or submucous intestine of the sheep and cows is used. To produce such a thread, you need to perform more than 10 operations, this is a rather complicated process. Raw materials for production come in dry or wet-salty form. First, it is treated with a special solution of potash, after which it is mechanically treated with scrapers and cut into ribbons. Then there is a bleaching process in a solution of sodium and perhydrol, after which it is twisted into threads. Then they are fumigated with sulfur dioxide and rinsed in acetic acid, but not concentrated. After all this, it is dried, polished and calibrated depending on the thickness. At the last stages, processes such as degreasing with gasoline, sterilization with chemical type reagents take place, and at the very end they are twisted into coils and packed.
Variety
There are several varieties of catgut. Since this is a surgical thread, it must be used in different operating cases, so it cannot be uniform for all operations and situations. Catgut distinguish:
A simple option is an ordinary surgical suture material. It is not processed additionally, this, in turn, does not extend the time of the resorption period.
Ordinary catgut - what is it? It looks like an elastic thread, has a smooth surface in color from cream to light brown. It is used in the gastrointestinal section of the mucous membrane, urology, gynecology, muscles, fascia, fiber, abdominal cavity, parenchymal organs, bronchi, lungs, and traumatology. Catgut is absorbed over a period of 7 to 12 days. During this time, its strength is reduced to 50%. Enzymatic action leaves the body within 70 days. The thread is sterilized by the radiation method.
Chrome catgut - what is it? As the name implies, the thread is processed with chromium salts in order to increase the resorption period. Chromium salts form additional molecular bonds that are transverse. Outwardly, it is the same elastic thread having a smooth surface of light green or green color. It is used in the same cases where the catgut is ordinary, but in cases where the recovery period will take longer. The time during which the thread will lose 50% of the strength is 18-28 days. It leaves the body in 90 days enzymatically, and is sterilized by the radiation method.
Catgut Features
Surgical catgut suture is the most reactogenic. Experimental studies have proved that when suturing a clean wound with such a thread, only 100 microbes of staphylococcus are enough to develop suppuration. In some cases, the timing of resorption may vary, so you can’t say exactly how quickly the thread will resolve. In some cases, during surgery on the stomach and the use of catgut during the recovery period, it can resolve in the first few days. After 10 days, the thread can already lose up to half the strength. Also, under equal conditions, the strength of the synthetic thread is greater than that of catgut, this requires the use of threads of a wider diameter. One of the features of the thread is that it has an absorption capacity. The use of catgut is not recommended for allergy sufferers, as it is highly allergenic.
Suture material
A surgical suture is considered a thread, it connects tissues, forming a scar or epithelization.
The material was first used several thousand years ago. He was discussed in a treatise on Chinese medicine. But in those days they used horse hair, cotton, tree fibers and animal tendons, you see, a list of not very pleasant materials. And about catgut, and what it is, no one knew.
Today, silk threads are considered the best option in surgery. All thanks to its properties, it is soft, ductile, durable, and it can be knitted in two knots. Due to the fact that silk is a natural material, in its properties it can be compared with catgut, but the inflammatory reaction of the silk thread is less pronounced. The thread also causes inflammation, in severe cases, necrosis can develop. To cause suppuration, it took only 10 microbial bodies, this was the conclusion of the experiment. In short, silk and suture catgut are similar and have the same properties, but there are differences: silk is softer, suppuration develops faster, and catgut is not so soft and durable, but with it, the risk of suppuration is reduced by 10 times.