Safety and complications of absorbable threads made of poly-L-lactic acid and poly lactide/glycolide: Experience with 148 consecutive patients.

BACKGROUND: Thread lifting is a minimally invasive procedure for lifting and repositioning tissues. Few articles with absorbable sutures exist in the literature. Furthermore there is no study focusing on complications of absorbable sutures.

OBJECTIVE: To describe complications of thread lifting using a totally absorbable suture composed of poly-L-lactic acid affixed with poly lactide/glycolide cones.

METHODS: Data regarding complications were analyzed retrospectively for 148 patients underwent thread lifting between June 2014 and February 2017.

RESULTS: A total of 321 pairs of sutures used in the 148 patients studied. Overall 40 (27%) patients had complications regarded as minimal or moderate without permanent sequela. The most common complication was skin dimpling and irregularity (n = 17, 11.4%) followed by ecchymosis (n = 12, 8.1%), suture extrusion (n = 4, 2.7%), and pain (n = 4, 2.7%) Except one patient, dimpling, and irregularity resolved in all patients after 3-7 days spontaneously. Suture migration was observed in 2 (1.35%) patients. Hematoma and infection were seen in 2 patients one for each.

CONCLUSIONS: The procedure using sutures made of absorbable poly-L-lactic acid and poly lactide/glycolide is a relatively safe procedure without major complications.