Small bowel obstruction due to laparoscopic barbed sutures: an unknown complication?

Hey, I stumbled upon this...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26541657

Segura-Sampedro JJ¹, Ashrafian H², Navarro-Sánchez A², Jenkins JT³, Morales-Conde S⁴, Martínez-Isla A².

Author information

• ¹Cirugía General y del Aparato Digestivo, Hospital Universitario Son Espases, España.
• ²North West London Hospitals NHS Trust. London, UK.
• ³St. Mark's Hospital. Harrow, UK.
• ⁴Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. Sevilla.

CONCLUSIONS:

These cases highlight that although barbed sutures provide an attractive means to allow easier and faster laparoscopic suturing, they should be used carefully in inframesocolic surgery and the suture end cut and buried to avoid inadvertent attachment to the small bowel or its mesentery. Barbed suture entanglement should be considered as an uncommon yet potentially serious differential cause for SBO presenting in the early period after laparoscopic surgery where a barbed suture has been used.