Adamu Abdul Abubakar1,2*, Khadija Idris Abubakar2, Ibrahim Bedi2, Abdulkadir Salman Zubair3, Mukaddas Muhammad Ahmad2, Umar Salisu Ahmad2, Ekaete Ime Oviawe2, Nura Abubakar2, Hassan Abubakar Bodinga2, Qais Al-Rawahi1, Abdullahi Aliyu1,4, Abubakar Sadiq Yakubu2 and Salisu Buhari2
1Department of Veterinary Medicine, College of Applied and Health Sciences, A’Sharqiyah University, Oman; 2Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria; 3Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, University of Ilorin, Nigeria; 4Department of Veterinary Pathology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria
*Corresponding author: adamu.abubakar@asu.edu.om
Gut suture materials are natural, sterile, absorbable biological substances composed of purified collagen originating from the outer layer of the intestinal segment of ruminants. They are commercially prepared and packaged in a chemical solution composed primarily of isopropanol and triethanolamine. This study aimed to determine the rate and duration of absorption of mildly treated chromic catgut in different tissue types in a rat model. A total of seventy-five apparently healthy Wister rats weighing between 215 to 225 g were used for this study. The rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups of twenty-five (n=25) rats per group: the abdominal muscle group (AMG), thigh muscle group (TMG), and subcutaneous tissue group (STG). A standard uniform 3 cm incision was made in the abdominal muscle, thigh muscle, and the dorsal skin to the level of the subcutaneous regions. Size 3-0 mildly treated chromic catgut was implanted in the three tissue groups using a simple continuous running suture. The skin in all groups was closed with nylon size 2-0 using a horizontal mattress suture pattern. The rats were humanely euthanized at days 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 post-implantation of the chromic catgut to remove the remnant of the implanted suture material, and the mass loss was determined at different intervals of absorption. The duration of absorption of the mildly treated chromic catgut implanted in the three different tissue types was 21 days in the TMG and beyond 35 days in the AMG and STG. It was observed that the thigh muscle group appeared to have a shorter duration of absorption (21-day) and absorption rate. Surgeons need to consider the rate and duration of absorption when choosing mildly treated chromic catgut for clinical use.