• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SAGES

Reimagining surgical care for a healthier world

  • Home
    • COVID-19 Annoucements
    • Search
    • SAGES Home
    • SAGES Foundation Home
  • About
    • Who is SAGES?
    • SAGES Mission Statement
    • Strategic Plan, 2020-2023
    • Committees
      • Request to Join a SAGES Committee
      • SAGES Board of Governors
      • Officers and Representatives of the Society
      • Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs
      • Full Committee Rosters
      • SAGES Past Presidents
    • Donate to the SAGES Foundation
    • Awards
      • George Berci Award
      • Pioneer in Surgical Endoscopy
      • Excellence In Clinical Care
      • International Ambassador
      • IRCAD Visiting Fellowship
      • Social Justice and Health Equity
      • Excellence in Community Surgery
      • Distinguished Service
      • Early Career Researcher
      • Researcher in Training
      • Jeff Ponsky Master Educator
      • Excellence in Medical Leadership
      • Barbara Berci Memorial Award
      • Brandeis Scholarship
      • Advocacy Summit
      • RAFT Annual Meeting Abstract Contest and Awards
  • Meetings
    • 2022 NBT Innovation Weekend
    • SAGES Annual Meeting
      • 2023 Scientific Session Call For Abstracts
      • 2023 Emerging Technology Call For Abstracts
    • SAGES 2021 Annual Meeting
    • CME Claim Form
    • Industry
      • Advertising Opportunities
      • Exhibit Opportunities
      • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Future Meetings
    • Past Meetings
      • SAGES 2021
      • SAGES 2020
      • SAGES 2019
      • SAGES 2018
    • Related Meetings Calendar
  • Join SAGES!
    • Membership Benefits
    • Membership Applications
      • Active Membership
      • Affiliate Membership
      • Associate Active Membership
      • Candidate Membership
      • International Membership
      • Medical Student Membership
    • Member News
      • Member Spotlight
      • Give the Gift of SAGES Membership
  • Patients
    • Healthy Sooner – Patient Information for Minimally Invasive Surgery
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • Choosing Wisely – An Initiative of the ABIM Foundation
    • All in the Recovery: Colorectal Cancer Alliance
    • Find a SAGES Member
  • Publications
    • SAGES Stories Podcast
    • SAGES Clinical / Practice / Training Guidelines, Statements, and Standards of Practice
    • Patient Information Brochures
    • TAVAC – Technology and Value Assessments
    • Surgical Endoscopy and Other Journal Information
    • SAGES Manuals
    • SCOPE – The SAGES Newsletter
    • COVID-19 Annoucements
    • Troubleshooting Guides
  • Education
    • OpiVoid.org
    • SAGES.TV Video Library
    • Safe Cholecystectomy Program
      • Safe Cholecystectomy Didactic Modules
    • Masters Program
      • SAGES Facebook Program Collaboratives
      • Acute Care Surgery
      • Bariatric
      • Biliary
      • Colorectal
      • Flexible Endoscopy (upper or lower)
      • Foregut
      • Hernia
      • Robotics
    • Educational Opportunities
    • HPB/Solid Organ Program
    • Courses for Residents
      • Advanced Courses
      • Basic Courses
    • Video Based Assessments (VBA)
    • Robotics Fellows Course
    • MIS Fellows Course
    • Facebook Livestreams
    • Free Webinars For Residents
    • SMART Enhanced Recovery Program
    • SAGES OR SAFETY Video
    • SAGES at Cine-Med
      • SAGES Top 21 MIS Procedures
      • SAGES Pearls
      • SAGES Flexible Endoscopy 101
      • SAGES Tips & Tricks of the Top 21
  • Opportunities
    • SAGES Fellowship Certification for Advanced GI MIS and Comprehensive Flexible Endoscopy
    • Foregut Fellowship Certification
    • SAGES Research Opportunities
    • Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery
    • Fundamentals of Endoscopic Surgery
    • Fundamental Use of Surgical Energy
    • Job Board
    • SAGES Go Global: Global Affairs and Humanitarian Efforts
  • Search
    • Search All SAGES Content
    • Search SAGES Guidelines
    • Search the Video Library
    • Search the Image Library
    • Search the Abstracts Archive
  • Blog
    • COVID-19
    • Notes from the Battlefield
    • A (Positive) Way Forward
    • President Posts
    • All Blog Posts
  • Log In

Small bowel obstructions following the use of barbed sutures: a systematic review.

Benjamin Clapp, MD, Loyd Christensen, BS, Robert Jones, Carlos Lodeiro, BS, Ellen Wicker, DO, William Klingsporn, MD, Alan Tyroch, MD. Texas Tech HSC Paul Foster School of Medicine

Introduction:   Barbed sutures were introduced in 2004. Their adoption and use has been widespread across all surgical specialties. One of the  infrequent complications seen with the use of barbed sutures are small bowel obstructions. In this study, we perform a systematic review of the literature to characterize small bowel obstructions (SBO) after the use of barbed sutures in a variety of operative procedures.

Methods:  A review of the literature was performed by searching PubMed and Ovid. We used the search terms: “barbed” “suture” “bowel” and “obstructions."  For each case report we examined the initial surgical procedure, type of barbed suture used, the type of complication, the time to complication, the presentation, and the type of operative interventions required for said complication.

Results:  Our review of the literature revealed 18 different cases of small bowel obstruction (SBO) secondary to the use of barbed sutures. The two most index common procedures, with a total of 4 cases each were myomectomy and hysterectomy. The next two most common procedures were TAPP hernia repair and sacral colpopexy. Different types of sutures were reported with the V-Loc barbed suture the most common type, involved in 14 of the 18 cases.

The average time of presentation to SBO was found to be 18.3 days post-op (1-49 days). A total of 15 patients (83.3%) presented with abdominal pain. Other common complaints included vomiting (50%), abdominal distension (27.8%), inability to tolerate food (22.2%) and constipation (16.7%). Most patients had a CT done, with the most common finding being a transition point in the small bowel. A total of 5 cases were also found to have a possible volvulus on CT, and only 1 case was reported to have strangulation.

Of these patients, 14 underwent a diagnostic laparoscopy, 3 of them had a diagnostic laparotomy and one of them had a hepatojejunostomy revision. In most cases, the removal of the redundant barbed suture was enough to release the small bowel and clear the obstruction.

Conclusions:  Surgeons should have a high index of suspicion for SBO if a patient presents with obstructive symptoms after a surgery that used barbed sutures. This will often present as a mesenteric volvulus on computed tomography. These particular SBOs require operative exploration, with laparoscopy being successful in the majority of cases.


Presented at the SAGES 2017 Annual Meeting in Houston, TX.

Abstract ID: 91998

Program Number: P006

Presentation Session: Poster Session (Non CME)

Presentation Type: Poster

View this Poster

72

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • WhatsApp
  • Reddit

Related

« Return to SAGES 2019 abstract archive

Our Mission

Innovate, educate and collaborate to improve patient care.

Recently, on SAGES…

Surgery is Safer with Vaccination 1

Addressing Religious Concerns About COVID-19 Vaccine

This may be a difficult subject matter for you and your patient to talk about.  Be assured, all major organized religious groups encourage and recommend the COVID-19 vaccine. Listed below are references and websites you can direct your patient towards to help them make an informed decision with regards to their religious concerns against the […]

SAGES Statement on AAPI Violence

The Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. In the summer of 2020, SAGES released a statement condemning the violence, racism, and hatred toward the Black community in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s murders. It is with great sorrow […]

Free SAGES Webinar: Lessons from COVID on Living and Thriving as Surgeons

SAGES recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on surgical practice and in surgeon wellness. SAGES’ Reimagining the Practice of Surgery Taskforce will present “Finding the Opportunities: Lessons from COVID and How We Live and Thrive as Surgeons”  to look at ways in which innovative leadership at various levels may help transform […]

Contact SAGES

Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons
11300 W. Olympic Blvd Suite 600
Los Angeles, CA 90064 USA
[email protected]
Tel: (310) 437-0544

Find Us Around the Web!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Important Links

SAGES 2022 Meeting Information

Healthy Sooner: Patient Information

SAGES Guidelines, Statements, & Standards of Practice

SAGES Manuals

 

  • taTME Study Info
  • Foundation
  • SAGES.TV
  • MyCME
  • Educational Activities

Copyright © 2022 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons