Study on the hydrolytic degradation of the segmented GL-b-[GL-co-TMC-co-CL]-b-GL copolymer with application as monofilar surgical suture

Amorphous and glycolide rich domains were more susceptible to the hydrolytic attack as revealed from mechanical assays and both spectroscopic and calorimetric data. Morphological changes occurring during degradation were highly dependent on pH and indeed different steps affecting the outer (longitudinal cracks) and inner (transversal cracks) parts of sutures could be distinguished. The high content on amorphous soft segments gave rise to well-defined circumferential cracks that affected the inner part of exposed sutures and were interpreted as a consequence of the hydrolytic attack to intralamellar regions.