Antibacterial-Coated Suture in Reducing Surgical Site Infection in Breast Surgery : A Prospective Study

Abstract EN

Background.

To reduce the incidence of microbial colonization of suture material, Triclosan- (TC-)coated suture materials have been developed.

The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of suture-related complications (SRC) in breast surgery with and without the use of TC-coated sutures.

Methods.

We performed a study on two consecutive periods: 92 patients underwent breast surgery with conventional sutures (Group 1) and 98 with TC-coated sutures (Group 2).

We performed subgroups analyses and developed a model to predict SRC in Group 1 and tested its clinical efficacy in Group 2 using a nomogram-based approach.

Results.

The SRC rates were 13% in Group 1 and 8% in Group 2.

We found that some subgroups may benefit from TC-coated sutures.

The discrimination obtained from a logistic regression model developed in Group 1 and based on multifocality, age and axillary lymphadenectomy was 0.88 (95% CI 0.77–0.95) (P<10−4).

There was a significant difference in Group 2 between predicted probabilities and observed percentages (P<10−5).

The predicted and observed proportions of complications in the high-risk group were 38% and 13%, respectively.

Conclusion.

This study used individual predictions of SRC and showed that using TC-coated suture may prevent SRC.

This was particularly significant in high-risk patients.