European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.)
The publication of the European Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Eur.) In the European territory involved a standardization of the classification of threads and of thickness designations for surgical suture material.
The Ph. Eur. prescribes a decimal classification and a metric designation of thickness. This informs the thread diameter in 1/10 mm, which implies that a thread with a thickness of 3.5 has a diameter of 0.35 mm.
The table gives a comparison of thickness between the designations of metric thicknesses and USP.
List of thickness of chirurgical threads
|
metric / EP |
thickness / USP |
diameter en mm |
|
|
natural
|
synthetic
|
|
|
0,01
|
-
|
12-0
|
0,001-0,009
|
|
0,1
|
-
|
11-0
|
0,010-0,019
|
|
0,2
|
-
|
10-0
|
0,020-0,029
|
|
0,3
|
-
|
9-0
|
0,030-0,039
|
|
0,4
|
-
|
8-0
|
0,040-0,049
|
|
0,5
|
8-0
|
7-0
|
0,050-0,059
|
|
0,7
|
7-0
|
6-0
|
0,070-0,099
|
|
1
|
6-0
|
5-0
|
0,100-0,149
|
|
1,5
|
5-0
|
4-0
|
0,150-0,199
|
|
2
|
4-0
|
3-0
|
02040-0,249
|
|
2,5
|
-
|
-
|
0,250-0,299
|
|
3
|
3-0
|
2-0
|
0,300-0,349
|
|
3,5
|
2-0
|
0
|
0,350-0,349
|
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0,400-0,499
|
|
5
|
1
|
2
|
0,500-0,599
|
|
6
|
2
|
3+4
|
0,600-0,699
|
|
7
|
3
|
5
|
0,700-0,799
|
|
8
|
4
|
6
|
0,800-0,899
|
|
9
|
-
|
7
|
0,900-0,999
|
|
|
natural / synthetic |
color |
absorbable /
non absorbable |
mono- filament |
braided |
coated |
50% de resistance |
100% de absorption |
|
c-tec CATGUT plain
|
natural
|
Yellow
|
absorbable
|
|
|
|
7-12 days
|
70 days
|
|
c-tec CATGUT chome
|
natural
|
Brown
|
absorbable
|
|
|
X
|
14-21 days
|
90 days
|
|
c-tec ALFATEC
|
synthetic
|
Violet
|
absorbable
|
|
X
|
X
|
21 days
|
90 days
|
|
c-tec CYNADOX
|
synthetic
|
Violet
|
absorbable
|
X
|
|
|
42 days
|
180 days
|
|
c-tec CELON
|
synthetic
|
Blue
|
non absorbable
|
X
|
|
|
/
|
/
|
|
c-tec SUPRAMID
|
synthetic
|
White
|
non absorbable
|
pseudo
|
X
|
X
|
/
|
/
|