A study conducted in the recent past reviewed the origin, physical properties, advantages, and use of catgut in plastic surgery and oral surgery. PubMed was used to do the data search, and the terms used for search were "catgut" AND "plastic surgery" OR "facelift"and "catgut" AND "oral surgery", resulting in 28 and 30 papers, respectively. Of these 58 papers, 31 were excluded and 8 other papers were added, making a total of 35 papers for analysis.

Since 1938, catgut has been used in cleft palate surgery. In 1976, it was used in a superficial wound with anti-tension taping. In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, it was utilized in otoplasty, scrotoplasty, hemostasis of neurofibroma, blepharoplasty, ptosis surgery, and rhytidectomy. From the 2000s until the present day, it has been preferred in various fields of plastic surgery, including pediatric lacerations and conjunctiva sutures. It has also been used in oral wound repairs and tonsillectomy since the 1970s to the present. Many studies have compared catgut with other suture materials in terms of wound healing, inflammatory reaction, and longevity.The advantages of this product as a suture material are its absorbability, excellent tensile strength, and assured sterility, when taken from a sealed tube. Moreover, it has been suggested that hardened or chromed, catgut is a better option than the plain variety. Besides, the finest possible size should be used in preference to thicker sizes.Given these advantages, the catgut sutures are widely used in plastic surgery and oral surgery.

Source: J Craniofac Surg. May/Jun 2020;31(3):876-878.