Vicryl (polyglactin 910) is an absorbable, synthetic, usually braided
suture, manufactured by
Ethicon Inc.
Ethicon, Inc. is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. It was incorporated as a separate company under the Johnson & Johnson umbrella in 1949 to expand and diversify the Johnson & Johnson product line.
Ethicon has manufactured surgical sutures a ...
, a subsidiary of
Johnson and Johnson
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...
. A monofilament version is also made for use in
ophthalmic practice. It is indicated for soft tissue approximation and
ligation
Ligation may refer to:
* Ligation (molecular biology), the covalent linking of two ends of DNA or RNA molecules
* In medicine, the making of a ligature (tie)
* Chemical ligation, the production of peptides from amino acids
* Tubal ligation, a meth ...
. The suture holds its tensile strength for approximately two to three weeks in tissue and is completely absorbed by acid
hydrolysis within 56 to 70 days. Vicryl and other
polyglycolic-acid sutures may also be treated for more rapid breakdown ("
Vicryl Rapide
Vicryl (polyglactin 910) is an absorbable, synthetic, usually braided suture, manufactured by Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. A monofilament version is also made for use in ophthalmic practice. It is indicated for soft tissu ...
") in rapidly healing tissues such as mucous membrane or impregnated with
triclosan ("
Vicryl Plus Antibacterial
Vicryl (polyglactin 910) is an absorbable, synthetic, usually braided suture, manufactured by Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson. A monofilament version is also made for use in ophthalmic practice. It is indicated for soft tissu ...
") to provide antimicrobial protection of the suture line. Because Vicryl is slow-absorbing and often braided, its use is contraindicated in the closure of any cutaneous wound exposed to the air, as it draws moisture from the healing tissue to the skin and allows bacteria and irritants to migrate into the wound. This may lead to high reactivity to the contaminants, poor wound healing, and eventually infection.
Although the name "Vicryl" is a trademark of
Ethicon, the term "vicryl" has been used generically referring to any synthetic absorbable suture made primarily of
polyglycolic acid. Other brands of polyglycolic acid suture include
PolySyn,
Surgicryl,
Polysorb, and
Dexon, all of which are manufactured by different companies. Vicryl is a copolymer of
lactide (a cyclic
diester of
lactic acid) and
glycolide (a cyclic diester of glycolic acid). In practice, Vicryl comes braided, dyed or undyed with the following decay schedule: 75% at two weeks, 50% at three weeks, and 25% at four weeks (i.e., the sutures retain that proportion of tensile strength at those dates).
References
Surgical suture material
{{surgery-stub