Objective: To determine advantages and disadvantages of manual vs mechanical sutures in colon surgery.
Material and methods: A retrospective study of clinical files of 84 colon surgery patients was conducted, to establish morbidity and mortality of these patients with special emphasis in length of surgical procedure and type of suture used during procedure (either manual or mechanical).
Results: Of 84 patients included in this study, manual suture was used in 70 (group 1) and mechanical suture in 14 (group 2). Most common preoperative diagnosis was diverticular disease in 22 cases (26.2%), 20 for group with manual suture, and two for group with mechanical suture. Most common surgical procedure was colectomy with ileoproctoanastomosis in group 1 and lower anterior resection with coloproctoanastomosis in group 2. Five cases presented complications (2.85%) with manual suture, while only one case presented complications in group 2 (7.14%). Main complications were dehiscence in group 1 and stenosis in group 2.
Discussion: There were no significant differences between both types of suture in terms of time of surgical procedure; there were no statistical differences for both techniques in terms of morbidity and mortality. However, there is shorter time of recovery in patients in whom mechanical suture was used with less tissue edema due to manipulation and less disability period.