Bacterial biofilms on implanted suture material are a cause of surgical site infection.

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) has been estimated to occur in up to 5% of all procedures, accounting for up to 0.5% of all hospital costs. Bacterial biofilms residing on implanted foreign bodies have been implicated as contributing or causative factors in a wide variety of infectious scenarios, but little consideration has been given to the potential for implanted, submerged suture material to act as a host for biofilm and thus serve as a nidus of infection.

Secondary surgery for cicatricial complications of facial injury.

Purpose: To investigate the nature of surgical revision procedures necessitated by cicatricial complications of facial injury.

Patients And Methods: All patients who had facial trauma in a period of approximately 5 years managed by a single surgeon were reviewed. Of these, 36 were found to have undergone secondary revision procedures arising specifically from scar-related complications.