Barbed suture vs traditional suture in single-port total laparoscopic hysterectomy

Abstract

Study objective: To compare surgical outcomes between barbed suture and traditional suture used in repair of the vaginal vault during single-port total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH).

Design: Case-control study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).

Setting: Two institutions.

Patients: One hundred two patients with benign uterine disease.

Interventions: Single-port TLH using barbed suture (n = 43) or traditional suture (n = 59).

Measurements and main results: Patient characteristics (age, body mass index, demographic data), procedures performed, uterine weight, and uterine disease were similar between the 2 study groups. There were also no differences in operative complications, conversion to other surgical approaches, operative blood loss, postoperative pain, and duration of hospital stay between the 2 groups. Use of barbed suture significantly reduced the time required for vaginal cuff suturing (11.4 vs 22.5 minutes; p < .001), as well as total operative time (92.0 vs 105.2 minutes; p = .002). Use of barbed suture is less technically demanding than traditional suture (p < .001).

Conclusion: Use of barbed suture in single-port TLH may aid surgeons by reducing operative time, suturing time, and surgical difficulty.

Keywords: Barbed suture; Hysterectomy; Single-port; V-Loc.