Comparison of antimicrobial activity between intraoperatively soaked bacitracin sutures and triclosan coated suture

With the easily available option for surgeons to soak their suture in anti-biotic irrigating solution intraoperatively in mind, this study was designed to evaluate the ability of suture soaked in bacitracin irrigating solution to inhibit the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Using standard experimental procedure, sterile suture was soaked in Bacitracin suture, and dried for 10 minutes or 6 hours, incubated for 24 h on inoculated plates, and examined for zone of inhibition around the suture. This was compared to control unsoaked suture and antimicrobial suture (AMS) currently on the market to determine if the minor intra operative procedural change of placing suture in antibiotic irrigation solution instead of on the sterile table could confer some antimicrobial activity. The study found the Bacitracin soaked suture (BSS) consistently inhibited the growth of the test organisms. For both organisms, the BSS exhibited a significantly larger zone of inhibition compared to the unsoaked control suture. However, the AMS currently on the market exhibited a larger zone of inhibition compared to the BSS. Placing sutures in a bacitracin irrigation solution intraoperatively instead of directly on the sterile table can achieve some of the in vitro antimicrobial effect seen from AMS currently on the market. This may result in reduced rates of SSIs and associated costs without major procedural change and at reduced overhead.