Polydioxanone in coronary vascular surgery.

We have used polydioxanone (PDS) in 50 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. The anastomoses consisted of suturing an autologous vein graft to the coronary artery (122 operations), a vein graft to the aorta (63 operations) and the internal mammary artery to the coronary artery (33 operations). The recipient coronary artery was subjected to endarterectomy in 28 instances. The anastomoses proved to be reliable in the early postsurgical period; no bleeding was attributed to the PDS suture. Clinical follow-up for a maximum of two-and-half years, completed using control coronary angiograms in selected cases, demonstrated good results. The practical properties of PDS were evaluated to be at least as good as those of polypropylene. Experiments have clearly shown that small artery anastomoses heal more favourably after the use of absorbable sutures than after the use of nonabsorbable sutures. Because of this finding and on the basis of our clinical experience, we believe the application of PDS in coronary surgery should be recommended as an alternative treatment.