SKIN 
 

January 2019     Volume 3 Issue 1 
 

Copyright 2018 The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine 49 

COMPELLING COMMENTS 
 

 
Fast Absorbing Cat-Gut Sutures 
 
Jake A Gibbons, BS1, Tyler Marions, BS, MBA1 
 
1University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine, Galveston, TX 
 

 
 
Before becoming mainly synthetic in the 20th 
century, sutures consisted primarily of natural 
materials.1 Catgut, an absorbable suture, is 
of historical interest as its use dates back to 
175 A.D.2 Despite the name, catgut has no 
relation to the common household pet. The 
word is likely derived from “kitgut,” a word for 
a fiddle with strings constructed from sheep 
intestine. The catgut suture was, in fact, 
made from the small intestine submucosa of 
sheep and the small intestine serosa of 
cattle.2   
 
Catgut is absorbed rapidly compared to other 
absorbable sutures. Catgut elicits an 
inflammatory response from the host, leading 
to the breakdown and absorption of the 
suture. This process results in catgut 
retaining little tensile strength after two 
weeks.2 Professor Joseph Lister was one of 
the first individuals to study the absorbability 
of catgut. He experimented by tying catgut 
around the carotid artery of a calf. After the 
calf was killed thirty days later, Lister 
reexamined the knot and found that the 
suture was no longer present and had been 
replaced with living tissue. Lister applied his 
own antiseptic techniques during his 
experimentation with the suture, as he 
understood the risk of infection when 
exposing patients to raw intestine.3  
 
Further advancements in the development of 
absorbable sutures were made, leading to 

the development of sutures such as 
polyglycan 910 and polyglycolic acid.  These 
sutures provide additional tensile strength 
and knot security, while eliciting less tissue 
inflammation.1 
 
Though absorbable gut sutures are not used 
superficially for skin closure, they are used by 
dermatologists in sewing split thickness skin 
grafts in sensitive areas of the face and in the 
mouth to promote rapid healing and obviate 
the need for suture removal. Historically, the 
use catgut for generations was an imperative 
stepping stone for the development of fast 
absorbing sutures still used today. 
 
 
Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None. 
 
Funding: None. 
 
Corresponding Author: 
Jake Gibbons, BS 
The University of Texas Medical Branch 
Galveston, TX 
jagibbon@utmb.edu  
  

References: 
1. Swanson NA, Tromovitch TA. Suture 

Materials, 1980s: Properties, Uses, and 
Abuses. International Journal of 
Dermatology. 1982;21(7):373-378. 
doi:10.1111/j.1365-
4362.1982.tb03154.x. 

 

mailto:jagibbon@utmb.edu


SKIN 
 

January 2019     Volume 3 Issue 1 
 

Copyright 2018 The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine 50 

2. Roenigk RK, Roenigk HH. Roenigk & 
Roenigks Dermatologic Surgery: 
Principles and Practice. New York: M. 
Dekker; 1996. 

3. Holder EJ. The Story of Catgut. 
Postgraduate Medical Journal. 
1949;25:427-433.