Table 1.

Study characteristics of included RCTs in this review

Study	No of participants	No of centres	Surgery type	Sutures used	SSI criteria	Duration of follow-up	Routine prophylactic antibiotics?
Arslan et al 57	177	1	Surgery for pilonidal disease	Vicryl versus Vicryl plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Baracs et al 38	385	7	Elective colorectal surgery	PDS versus PDS Plus	Not stated	30 days	Yes
Chen et al 39	241	1	Head and neck surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	Local erythema with purulent discharge, wound dehiscence, or skin necrosis	Not stated	Yes
Diener et al 7	1185	24	Laparotomy	PDS versus PDS Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Ford et al 40	147	1	Paediatric general surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	Not stated	80 days	No
Galal and El-Hindawy41	450	1	All surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Not stated
Ichida et al 42	1023	1	Gastroenterological surgery	Vicryl and PDS II versus Vicryl Plus and PDS Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Isik et al 43	510	1	Cardiac surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	1 month	Not stated
Justinger et al 44	856	1	Laparotomy	PDS II versus PDS II Plus	CDC criteria	2 weeks	Yes
Karip et al 45	106	1	Pilonidal sinus excision followed by Karydakis flap repair	Monocryl Plus versus Monocryl	Rash, fever or purulent discharge	2 weeks	Yes
Lin et al 56	102	1	Total knee replacement surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Mattavelli et al 2	300	4	Elective colorectal surgery	Vicryl and PDS versus Vicryl Plus and PDS Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Mingmalairak et al 46	100	1	Appendectomy	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	Not stated	30 days, 6 months and 1 year	Yes
Nakamura et al 11	410	1	Elective colorectal surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Rasic et al 47	184	1	Elective colorectal cancer surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	Not stated	To discharge	Yes
Renko et al 33	1633	1	Paediatric surgery	Vicryl and Monocryl and PDS versus Vicryl Plus and Monocryl Plus and PDS Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	In 30%
Roy et al 55	110	1	Gastrointestinal surgery	PDS versus PDS plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Ruiz-Tovar et al 48	110	3	Open colorectal surgery with faecal peritonitis	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	60 days	Yes
Seim et al 49	328	1	CABG (Coronary artery bypass graft) leg wound	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	Positive bacterial culture and clinical judgement	4 weeks	Yes
Sprowson et al	2546	3	Primary THR (total hip replacment) or TKR (total knee replacement)	Vicryl versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Tabrizi et al 54	320	2	Dental implant surgery	Vicryl versus Vicryl plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Thimour-Bergstrom et al 50	392	1	CABG (+/-AVR (aortic valve replacement), MVR (Mitral valve replacement)) with saphenous vein graft	Vicryl and Monocryl versus Vicryl Plus and Monocryl Plus	CDC criteria	60 days	Yes
Turtiainen et al 51	276	3	Non-emergency lower-limb arterial surgery	Vicryl and Monocryl versus Vicryl Plus and Monocryl Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Yes
Williams et al 52	150	1	Mastectomy	Vicryl and Monocryl versus Vicryl Plus and Monocryl Plus	CDC criteria	6 weeks	If considered at risk
Zhang et al 53	101	6	Mastectomy	Chinese silk versus Vicryl Plus	CDC criteria	30 days	Not stated

CDC, centre for disease control; RCTs, randomised controlled trials.