InstronTensileTestingComparingSuturedtoNon-SuturedChickenSkinApril25th,2007.docVIP

Instron Tensile Testing: Comparing Sutured to Non-Sutured Chicken Skin April 25th, 2007 Joseph Schwartz Background: Many wound suturing techniques have been developed to optimize certain aspects of the healing process, and each technique accomplishes certain goals better than the others. In a previous experiment, it was found that the Running-Locked stitch exhibited a lower deformation under a 200 g load than the Interrupted stitch using a skin surrogate (p=0.049). It was hypothesized that this was due to the reinforcing nature of the Running-Locked suture as opposed to the Interrupted suture’s separation between each stitch. This could have implications in reducing scarring in terms of the amount that the skin can stretch as well as keeping the skin on both sides of the wound as close as possible. Wong Et al. also found the Running-Locked stitch to be advantageous. They reported, “this technique reduces the dermal dead space, achieves close approximation of the epidermal wound edges, has a good cosmetic appearance soon after surgery” (Wong, 1993) Even more telling is the experiment by Schlechter and Guyuron who compared the Interrupted stitch to the Running Locked stitch in microvascular anastomosis. They found the continuous locked suture to save time as well as function most adequately (Schlecter, 1994). Evaluating the performance of certain stitches by comparing them to one another is useful, but it may also be important to evaluate their performance and material properties against non-sutured skin. In another experiment, the structural and material properties of chicken skin were determined and compared with a foam surrogate. The results of the experiment found that the foam was not an adequate surrogate for the chicken skin (p=0.008) based on the stiffness. By combining the methods of these two experiments, the structural and material properties of sutured skin with the Running-Locked stitch can be tested and compared with those properties of the non-sutured