PDS suture

Hi Dr. Rosenberg,

My surgeon wants to use PDS suture to raise my crease fold to correct a slight bottom out problem.  From my research, many surgeons do use this slowly absorbable suture for pocket revisions.  

My concern is the follow:

1) my skin is very thin... with the suture being present in the body for months, will they spit through the skin through the fold and create wound healing problems?  (I have areola incision)

2) from your experience, have you seen patients having allergic reactions or not tolerate PDS suture well?  I have had bad experience with catgut before and therefore am very worried about my own tissue reactions with sutures...

3) what should I expect in terms of recovery of this procedure?  Is it painful?

Many thanks for your help in advance.

[Howard Rosenberg, MD]

PDS suture is "monofilament", not braided and is one of the least reactive sutures.  Allergic reactions to these type of sutures is rare and usually related to the inflammatory reaction that makes it dissolve.  It is far more likely to have a reaction to catgut.  Expect a recover time of usually not more that two weeks following this procedure.

[imnyc]

Thank you for your response.