The main use of surgical sutures is to assist closure and healing of trauma-induced as well as surgical wounds. This is done by upholding wound tissues together in order to facilitate the healing process. A huge variety of sutures are available for medical purpose e.g. bio active sutures, knot-less sutures, electronic sutures, drug-eluting sutures, anti-microbial sutures and stem cells containing sutures. Sutures increase the capabilities to improve tissue approximation and wound healing. Sutures with drug eluting property are the advanced type of sutures being used for surgical purpose via delivery of drug to the specified area. Various new strategies develop the effectiveness of sutures to be used as physical entity to get better biologically active component which enables the delivery of various desirable drugs and cells to the affected site. Ideal modified sutures should not only retain its mechanical integrity during the healing process, but should also deliver the drugs loaded in it, in a controlled manner. These nano-structured fibers, produced by electrospinning and electrospraying techniques, offer tuneable release kinetics applicable to diverse biomedical applications. Drug eluting sutures provide reduced surgical site infections, accelerated wound healing, reduced post-operative complications and most important reduce the need for supplement drugs. It will be the biggest achievement if we get the desired concentration and effect of the loaded drug in these sutures without affecting its mechanical properties. This can be achieved by enhancing/modifying the control release approaches. Current review gives updated information on recent advances in drug eluting sutures.
Key words: Surgical, smart sutures, opththalamics, electrospinning, soaking, antibacterial
|
