1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to sutures and more particularly to sutures made from, incorporating and/or coated with compositions of therapeutic absorbable glass. The present disclosure also relates to pledgets coated with compositions of therapeutic absorbable glass.
2. Description of Related Art
Antimicrobial agents have been associated with surgical devices to prevent contamination with germs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,096 to Fox, Jr. et al. describes applying a coating to a medical device, the coating containing a matrix polymer and antimicrobial agents. Other examples of antimicrobial devices include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,674,901; 3,705,938; 3,987,797; 4,024,871; and 4,612,337.
Sutures prepared from biocompatible bioabsorbable polymers are well known in the art and are described e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,668,162; 2,703,316; 2,758,987; 3,225,766; 3,297,033; 3,422,181; 3,531,561; 3,565,077; 3,565,869; 3,620,218; 3,626,948; 3,636,956; 3,736,646; 3,772,420; 3,773,919; 3,792,010; 3,797,499; 3,839,297; 3,867,190; 3,878,284; 3,982,543; 4,047,533; 4,060,089; 4,137,921; 4,157,437; 4,234,775; 4,237,920; 4,300,565; 4,523,591, U.K. Patent No. 779,291; Gilding et al., Biocompatibility of Clinical Implant Materials, Vol. II, ch. 9: “Biodegradable Polymers” (1981). Synthetic biocompatible bioabsorbable multifilament sutures such as DEXON®, VICRYL®, and POLYSORB® commercially available from Ethicon, Inc. (Somerville, N.J.) and United States Surgical (Norwalk, Conn.) are well known in the industry.
Examples of biocompatible non-bioabsorbable polymers useful for fabricating sutures include, but are not limited to, nylon, silk, polyester, polypropylene, polyethylene, cotton, linen, etc. Commercially available sutures fabricated from biocompatible non-bioabsorbable polymers, e.g., a polyester suture (SURGIDAC®, United States Surgical, Norwalk, Conn.) and a polyester braided suture (TICRON®, David & Geck, Danbury, Conn.) are also well known in the industry.
Suture coating compositions are also well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,676 describes an absorbable coating composition for sutures. Other suture coatings are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,624,256; 4,190,720; 4,582,052; 4,605,730; 4,700,704; 4,705,820; 4,788,979; 4,791,929; 4,994,074; 5,047,048; 5,100,433; 5,352,515; 5,032,638; 4,711,241; 4,705,820; and 4,201,216.
Water-soluble glasses have been utilized for a variety of medical, cosmetic and other purposes. For example, UK Patent Specifications Nos. 1,565,906, 2,079,152, 2,077,585 and 2,146,531, describe the dissolution of glasses impregnated with various agents such as drugs, hormones, insecticides, spermicides, and fungicides to provide controlled release of these agents. The glass can be in the form of an implant or bolus. WO 98/44965, describes a water-soluble biodegradable glass composition containing various active agents, e.g., antimicrobials such as antibiotics and metal compounds, e.g., silver oxide, silver orthophosphate, steroids, painkillers, etc., which is used for implantation in soft tissue.
WO 96/24364, describes a controlled release glass having various metals, e.g., silver, copper, and zinc useful for combating infections.
WO 98/54104, describes the preparation of water-soluble glass fibres which optionally contain silver compounds. The glass fibres are utilized in undefined orthopaedic implants and tissue engineering applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,585, describes the use of medicinal substances for topical applications, e.g., wound dressings, which include a water-soluble glass containing a silver compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,923 is directed to glass-filled absorbable surgical devices made of a synthetic absorbable polymer containing an absorbable glass filler.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,290,544 and 5,766,611, describe cosmetic products containing soluble glass which contains silver, copper or zinc ions having antibacterial activity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,770, describes a boron-free water-soluble glass containing silver oxide useful as a water treating agent.
While the aforementioned references describe the use of water-soluble glass for certain implant and cosmetic applications, wound dressings, treating infections, and water-treating agents there is no indication in the references of water-soluble glass-based coating compositions for sutures or pledgets, or sutures manufactured from water-soluble glass, which provide controlled, sustained release of a therapeutic agent.