The effect of medical grade honey on tensile strength, strain, and Young's modulus of synthetic absorbable suture material used in equine surgery.
Authors: Madsen Kira, Martens Ann, Haspeslagh Maarten, Meulyzer Michael, Gustafsson Kajsa
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary Medical-grade honey (MGH) is increasingly used in equine surgery to reduce surgical site infections, yet its compatibility with common suture materials remained unexplored until this 2024 study. Researchers tested three synthetic absorbable sutures—polydioxanone (PD2), polyglactin 910 (PG2), and polyglecaprone (PC2-0)—by incubating them in MGH, phosphate-buffered saline, equine plasma, and combinations thereof for up to 28 days, then measuring tensile strength, strain, and Young's modulus through mechanical failure testing. All three suture types demonstrated significantly greater tensile strength when exposed to MGH compared to equine plasma and saline controls from day 7 onwards; for example, PG2 maintained 69.3 N higher tensile strength in MGH versus equine plasma throughout the study period. The findings provide reassurance that MGH application poses no mechanical risk to suture integrity and can be safely used alongside these commonly deployed materials in equine wound closure. However, the study's in vitro design using static, unloaded conditions does not replicate the dynamic shear forces and biological environment of healing surgical sites, so practitioners should remain alert to any clinical observations regarding suture performance in actual wound healing scenarios.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Medical grade honey can be safely applied to surgical wounds without compromising the mechanical integrity of commonly used synthetic absorbable sutures in equine surgery
- •MGH may actually preserve or enhance suture tensile strength compared to physiological fluids, potentially benefiting both infection prevention and surgical wound healing
- •Surgeons can confidently use MGH as an infection prophylaxis measure without concern for suture material degradation during the critical healing period
Key Findings
- •Medical grade honey (MGH) significantly increased tensile strength of PD2 sutures compared to equine plasma and PBS from day 7 onwards (md=16.95 N, p<0.05)
- •PG2 sutures in MGH showed significantly higher tensile strength versus EP and PBS throughout the 28-day study period (md=69.28 N, p<0.05)
- •PC2-0 sutures incubated in MGH demonstrated significantly higher tensile strength from day 7 onward compared to control media (md=12.40 N, p<0.05)
- •MGH did not negatively affect tensile strength, strain, or Young's modulus of any of the three synthetic absorbable suture materials tested