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A soft‐tissue coupling for wound closure
Author(s) -
Melvin Alan J.,
Melvin David B.,
Kitzmiller William J.,
Fath Kyle R.,
Biddinger Paul W.,
JuncosaMelvin Natalia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.31802
Subject(s) - histology , fibrous joint , biomechanics , anatomy , soft tissue , wound closure , muscle fibre , biomedical engineering , medicine , materials science , surgery , wound healing , skeletal muscle , pathology
Wounds often cannot be successfully closed by conventional means of closure such as sutures or staples. Our group developed the FiberSecure™ device to close soft tissue wounds reliably, surpassing native tissue strength. We closed cross‐fiber muscle incisions, to evaluate (1) four different configurations of FiberSecure™ for 30 days, then (2) the resulting preferred configuration for 180 days. The four treatment groups each placed 21,504 polyester (PET) 12‐μm fibers (cross‐sectional area 1% of muscle) traversing the incision, in the form of (A) Four large (No.7 suture) non‐textured bundles, (B) Eight small (No.2 suture) non‐textured, (C) Four large textured, or (D) Eight small textured. Four incisions were closed in the external oblique muscle of 16 Sinclair minipigs. At 30 days, specimens were removed for biomechanics, histology, and total collagen content. Group (B) was selected for 180‐day evaluations in the same wound model in eight animals, four closures each ( n = 32), again with biomechanics and histology. In strength testing, every specimen tore through muscle remotely, while the repair region remained intact. Maximum forces were (A) 37.8 ± 3.9 N, (B) 37.1 ± 4.7 N, (C) 39.0 ± 5.3 N, and (D) 32.4 ± 3.4 N at 30 days, and 37.2 ± 11.3 N at 180 days (mean ± SEM). No significant difference was observed among the groups or time points ( p > 0.05). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2011.