OC-064 TISSUE KINDNESS: A COMPARISON OF TISSUE MANIPULATION BETWEEN A NOVEL SUTURING DEVICE FOR STANDARDIZED ABDOMINAL CLOSURE AND MANUAL NEEDLE TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Abstract Aim Wound healing is influenced by contamination, wound tension, and tissue handling. Suturing includes tweezer compression and medial traction that might compromise the fascia. This study compared forces involved in suturing with a novel suturing device for standardized abdominal closure and curved suture needles of two sizes. Method A model to measure suturing-forces was developed. Ten theatre nurses and 25 surgeons were introduced to the novel suturing-device. Participants performed 10×3 needle-pull-throughs using the device and two sizes of conventional suture needles: 36mm Large Needle (LN) and 26mm Small Needle (SN). Tweezer force and medial tissue traction force were recorded. Needle pull-through time, maximum and Area Under Curve forces (AUC) were calculated. Results Device training time was 4min 25s. Maximum tweezer-force was 892g (420.4) for the device, 1037g (457.5) for LN and 1097g (491.1) for SN (p<0.001). Maximum traction-force was 62g (57.6) for the device, 61g (45.4) for LN and 54g (50.0) for SN (p=0.117). Tweezer-force AUC was 2422gs (1797.2) for the device, 3442gs (1550.0) for LN and 3221gs (1588.9) for SN (p<0.001). Traction-force AUC was 148gs (239.0) for the device, 174gs (160.8) for LN and 142gs (161.0) for SN (p=0.068). Needle-pull through time was 3.4s (2.15) for the device, 4.4s (2.12) for LN and 3.9s (1.90) for SN (p<0.001) Conclusion The suturing device was faster and less traumatic to tissue for tweezer-force. Medial traction forces were similar. The novel suturing device is quick to learn and gentle to the tissue and device seems promising in facilitating fascial closure.