Abstract
PURPOSE: We assessed clinical outcomes of patients undergoing open hernia repair using STRATAFIX™ Symmetric, a barbed triclosan-coated suture (TCS; Ethicon), versus conventional polydioxanone suture (PDS) for abdominal wall closure. METHODS: This single-center retrospective cohort study identified patients undergoing hernia repair. The site used PDS from 2013 to 2016 and switched exclusively to barbed TCS in 2017. Outcomes were assessed at 30, 60, and 90 days. Multivariate regression analyses and Cox proportional hazards models were used. RESULTS: Of 821 hernia repairs, 446 used barbed TCS and 375 used conventional PDS. Surgical site infections (SSIs) were significantly less frequent with barbed TCS (60 days, 5.9% vs. 11.4%; P = 0.0083; 90 days, 5.9% vs. 11.7%; P = 0.006) and this remained consistent after multivariate adjustment (60 days, OR [95% CI]: 0.5 [0.3-0.9]; 90 days, 0.5 [0.3-0.9]). Among patients with SSI, deep SSIs were less frequent with barbed TCS (60 days, 9.1% vs. 35.7%; P = 0.022; 90 days, 9.1% vs. 34.9%; P = 0.0252). Barbed TCS significantly reduced the risk of perioperative complications (HR [95% CI]: 0.5[0.3-0.8]; P = 0.0058). Hospital length of stay was 2.5 days shorter with barbed TCS (mean [95% CI]: 5.7[4.9-6.6] vs. 8.2[7.3-9.1] days; P < 0.0001). No differences in reoperation rate over time were observed by type of suture (HR[95% CI]:1.3 [0.5-3.4]; P = 0.4793). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that patients who underwent open hernia repair appeared to recover equally well regardless of the suture type. In addition, the use of barbed TCS was associated with significantly reduced risk of perioperative complications and hospital length of stay.