Mersilene suture as a vehicle for delivery of growth factors in tendon repair

Extensive clinical and laboratory studies have demonstrated that growth fac tors accelerate and modulate the wound-healing process. The purpose of this experiment was to apply the principles of growth factor-enhanced wound hea ling to an in vitro rat tendon model. A method was developed for covalently binding a biologically active peptide to nonabsorbable braided polyester s uture (Mersilene). Sutures were treated with various growth factors, which included epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and kerat inocyte growth factor, and bovine serum albumin was the control. Spectropho tometric assessment was used to verify the peptide's activity. The suture w as subsequently placed through individual harvested rat flexor tendons, whi ch were arranged in standard tissue culture conditions. Markedly increased cellular proliferation along the suture was appreciated on the tendons trea ted with epidermal growth factor-bound suture. Platelet-derived growth fact or was shown to have a lesser effect, whereas keratinocyte growth factor ha d no visible effect on cellular proliferation. This preliminary study descr ibes a new technique of binding growth factors to suture. It also demonstra tes that the presence of growth factors may help facilitate flexor tendon h ealing and allow early postoperative rehabilitation to decrease adhesion fo rmation.