| 摘要 |
Braided silk surgical sutures having increased tensile strength and knot strength are prepared by (1) presoaking conventionally-prepared unstretched braided silk sutures in a non-corrosive liquid (preferably water) for at least about 30 minutes to wet the silk fibers, (2) stretching the presoaked sutures while the same are immersed in a non-corrosive liquid (preferably water), and then (3) drying the stretched silk sutures while maintaining the stretched length and not allowing shrinkage to occur during drying. The wet-stretching method of the invention makes possible the stretching of braided silk sutures to a greater extent than that obtainable by conventional hot-stretching techniques, up to about 21/2 times greater, without damage to the sutures. The wet-stretched sutures of the invention have greater tensile strength and knot strength than the prior art hot-stretched sutures of comparable diameter.
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