Question:medium
Which of the following statements is true about the suture material shown in the image?
Which of the following statements is true about the suture material shown in the image?
Show Hint
This is catgut - a collagen-based absorbable suture cleared by phagocytosis and enzymes.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Made of rabbit submucosa
- Made of cat submucosa
- Not degraded
- Degraded by enzymatic degradation
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Start from the material's nature. The pictured suture is catgut, an absorbable suture made of collagen taken from the intestinal submucosa of sheep or cattle, so the "cat" in the name is misleading.
Step 2: Ask how the body clears a collagen suture. Because it is a foreign protein, the tissue treats it like debris and digests it. Macrophages engulf it (phagocytosis) and proteolytic enzymes cut the collagen apart.
Step 3: Test each option against this. "Rabbit submucosa" and "cat submucosa" name the wrong animal, so both fail. "Not degraded" contradicts the fact that catgut is absorbable, so it fails too.
Step 4: Only "degraded by enzymatic degradation" survives, and it fits the 7 to 10 day absorption window of plain catgut along with its high tissue reactivity and use in fast-healing tissue.\[\boxed{\text{Degraded by enzymatic degradation}}\]
Step 2: Ask how the body clears a collagen suture. Because it is a foreign protein, the tissue treats it like debris and digests it. Macrophages engulf it (phagocytosis) and proteolytic enzymes cut the collagen apart.
Step 3: Test each option against this. "Rabbit submucosa" and "cat submucosa" name the wrong animal, so both fail. "Not degraded" contradicts the fact that catgut is absorbable, so it fails too.
Step 4: Only "degraded by enzymatic degradation" survives, and it fits the 7 to 10 day absorption window of plain catgut along with its high tissue reactivity and use in fast-healing tissue.\[\boxed{\text{Degraded by enzymatic degradation}}\]
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