Whereas there has been a noticeable trend toward the use of nonabsorbable suture materials, particularly silk, in the past five years, undoubtedly the average physician fears nonabsorbable sutures because pathologists and some of the older surgeons have emphasized that "foreign bodies" are detrimental to tissues. This fear has deterred him from using nonabsorbable suture materials and has been justified by the poor results obtained from their incorrect use.
As Guerry1 and Gage2 have used successfully fine spool cotton as ligatures for many years, it occurred to us that the same material in proper sizes might also be used throughout major operations. Susruta about 500 B. C.3 recommended cotton for the suture of wounds of joints and the abdomen and recently Ginkovskiy,4 after considerable experimental animal work, advocated the use of cotton in surgical procedures on man.
In a previous paper we5 showed the comparative reactions