the effect of different suture removal time intervals on surgical wound healing

introduction: this study was carried out to compare the effect of different suture removal time on surgical wound healing. materials and methods: twenty-one male albino rabbits were used. under general and local anesthesia a moucoperiosteal rectangular flap was raised in each animal and then repositioned and sutured. the animals were randomly divided into three experimental groups of seven animals each. in group i and ii the sutures were removed after 3 and 5 days respectively and were followed up for 7 and 14 days after surgery. in group iii the sutures were removed after 7 days and were followed up for 14 days after surgery. tissue reactions were observed and recorded using inflammation and gingival indexes at 7 and 14 days after surgery in all three groups. inflammation and gingival indexes were analyzed by kurskal wallis, firedman and wilcoxone tests. results: results showed that inflammation index was significantly different with two other groups at the day 7 after surgery ( p <0.008). gingival index in group ii was significantly different from two other groups at the day 14 ( p <0.028); however, there was no significant difference between group ii and iii at the same interval. conclusion: based on result of this study, 5 days was recognized to the best time interval for suture removal in comparison with two other time intervals.