There are many different types of suture materials that can be used to repair the woman's genitals. The choice of type will often depend on the caregiver's preferences, the cost of the product and what the hospital makes available. All sutures used are dissolvable and are not intended to be removed (unless they are causing problems), but how they dissolve and the length of time it takes them to dissolve, will depend on the type used.
The standard sized thickness of the suture material (called 2 / 0) is used for most tears and is ideal for muscle tissue. Finer suture material (called 3 / 0) tends to be used for the woman's labia and smaller tears. Occasionally very fine suture material will be used (called 4 / 0) for delicate tissue repairs.
In Australia, the types of stitches most commonly used include:
Catgut
Chromic catgut
Polyglycolic acid (Dexon)
Polyglactin (Vicryl)
Catgut
Catgut is manufactured from collagen derived from healthy mammals (not necessarily cats, but actually cows intestines!). It dissolves within 5 to 10 days through the natural body release of protein destroying enzymes. These enzymes are in higher concentrations in a woman's cervix and vagina.
Catgut tends to cause some irritation to the tissues where the sutures are placed. This is a normal response to having a foreign substance present in the body. Infection of the stitches can increase the rate at which the sutures dissolve (as can the application of creams by the woman to help healing) and exposure to salt solutions can cause the sutured area to develop calcium like deposits in the vaginal tissue (so no salt baths). Occasionally the woman may be allergic to the catgut and it will need to be removed.
Because Catgut is considered to cause more pain due to inflammation and irritation and the rate at which it dissolves is unpredictable, and in some cases too quick, its use in recent years has declined and is now rarely used to suture the perineum after birth.