The diameter of suture material may be specified by its "size" or metric diameter.
Organizations providing standards:
(1) United States Pharmacopoeia (USP)
(2) European Pharmacopoeia (EP)
Types of suture materials:
(1) absorbable suture material (catgut, chromic, plain)
(2) non-absorbable and synthetic absorbable
|
USP Size Absorbable Suture Materials |
USP Size Nonabsorbable or Synthetic |
Diameter in mm |
EP metric size |
|
|
9-0 |
|
|
|
|
8-0 |
|
|
|
|
7-0 |
0.050 - 0.069 |
0.5 |
|
|
6-0 |
0.070 - 0.099 |
0.7 |
|
6-0 |
5-0 |
0.100 - 0.149 |
1 |
|
5-0 |
4-0 |
0.150 - 0.199 |
1.5 |
|
4-0 |
3-0 |
0.200 - 0.299 |
2 |
|
3-0 |
2-0 |
0.300 - 0.349 |
3 |
|
2-0 |
0 (1-0) |
0.350 - 0.399 |
3.5 |
|
0 |
1 |
0.400 - 0.499 |
4 |
|
1 |
2 |
0.500 - 0.599 |
5 |
|
2 |
3, 4 |
0.600 - 0.699 |
6 |
|
|
5 |
0.700 - 0.799 |
7 |
|
|
6 |
0.800 - 0.899 |
8 |
|
|
7 |
0.900 - 0.999 |
9 |
|
|
8 |
1.000 - 1.099 |
10 |
where:
• 3-0 indicates "000"
