Surgical stitches loaded with anti-inflammatory medications
ATLANTA, March 24, 2026 — Deep cuts from accidents or surgeries require stitches, typically followed by oral anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen. While these medications help with pain, they don’t act specifically on the wounds. Consequently, the site of the stitches can get inflamed, which could slow healing and lead to scarring. Now, researchers at Ouachita Baptist University are creating stitches loaded with anti-inflammatory drugs to deliver the medication directly to the injury.
Mieya Kirby, an undergraduate researcher working with chemist Sharon K. Hamilton, will present her results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2026 is being held March 22-26; it features nearly 11,000 presentations on a range of science topics.
When Kirby was a child, her mother went through breast reconstruction surgery. The procedure involves anastomosis, or the suturing together of blood vessels. “If there’s inflammation at the site of suture, that can quickly close up that blood vessel, and those sutures can fail,” says Kirby. This can cause scars, reopening of wounds, infections or, as in the case of breast reconstruction surgery, death of surrounding tissue. Her mother’s experience inspired Kirby to look for alternatives that would minimize the inflammation of sutured vessels.
In Hamilton’s laboratory, Kirby works with electrospun polymers, which have emerged as an attractive material for wound-healing technologies. Under high voltage, polymer solutions are drawn into delicate nanofibers that can be molded into different shapes, including dissolvable stitches, and provide a surface for regenerating tissues.
Take, for instance, polydioxanone, a polymer already used for dissolvable surgical sutures. The material does not interact with living tissues and maintains its strength for weeks. After the wound heals, these sutures break down, turning into simpler biomolecules that are metabolized by the body or passed in urine.
In previous work, scientists have coated polydioxanone sutures with anti-inflammatory drugs by dipping the strands in solutions containing these medications. But the drug molecules don’t hold on to the polymers tightly, which isn’t ideal for wounds that take longer to heal. And the dipped strands release the anti-inflammatory drug quickly in the body, which can interfere with the synthesis of collagen — the protein that provides tissues with the scaffolding required to heal the wound. “New collagen is laid down between the two- and four-week mark,” says Kirby. “So, you need something that won’t be released immediately.”
The researchers mitigated the quick-release problem by blending polydioxanone with another polymer that binds anti-inflammatory drugs during the electrospinning process. The drugs are attached to the new polymer by covalent bonds. The bonds break down gradually, ensuring that the attached anti-inflammatory drug is released into the wound slowly over weeks.
The team is experimenting with different polymers, probing how fast they release drugs and how adjustable those release rates are. These new stitches could eliminate the need to remember to take oral pain medications. Moreover, by reducing inflammation and limiting scars, they could increase the success rates for anastomosis procedures.
In the future, the researchers plan to scale up their solution from thin electrospun polymers to a fiber that is sufficiently strong and flexible for surgeons to stitch with. The team is seeking collaborations that would allow them to test the new stitches in animal models. This would be a critical step toward commercialization, as it would test how the drug-release rate changes with scale and whether any preexisting conditions could hinder its use in certain patient groups.
The researchers are also looking at electrospinning other biomedical polymers into sutures. Blending in an antibacterial polymer, for example, could make the stitches resistant to bacterial infections. Likewise, “We could combine the drug-loaded polymer with other materials to make not just an anti-inflammatory suture, but something that helps rebuild the collagen even quicker,” says Hamilton.
The research was funded by the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program through a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Visit the ACS Spring 2026 program to learn more about this presentation, “Development and characteristics of ester-linked NSAID-polymer conjugates towards limiting suture site inflammation,” and other science presentations.
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The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS Division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
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Title
Development and characteristics of ester-linked NSAID-polymer conjugates towards limiting suture site inflammation
Abstract
Biodegradable sutures are used in anastomosis procedures, the surgical joining of blood vessels, however these procedures can incur risks associated with scar tissue development post operatively that can limit blood flow. Inflammation resulting from the procedure can be the cause of scar tissue. If one could limit inflammation, scar tissue development could decrease and increase the success rate of the sutures to promote restored blood flow. Polymerization of p-dioxanone is a known procedure and is the foundation of most current biodegradable sutures used, however polydioxanone (PDO) does not contain functional groups capable of attaching a cleavable group that could release an anti-inflammatory. By creating a biodegradable suture or adhesive with the ability to carry a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), it is anticipated that this material would minimize scar tissue development and procure better success rates for anastomosis procedures. This project explores the synthesis of several innately therapeutic polymers in which an NSAID was covalently attached to the polymer via a cleavable ester linkage. These polymers were then incorporated into wound healing materials and the release rate of the NSAID from the constructs under physiological conditions was observed via UV-VIS spectroscopy. Moving forward, these polymers could be used with p-dioxanone to develop a more modern suture material. Additionally, it is anticipated that these polymers could have a variety of biomedical applications, particularly with respect to controlled drug delivery.
END
Mieya Kirby, an undergraduate researcher working with chemist Sharon K. Hamilton, will present her results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2026 is being held March 22-26; it features nearly 11,000 presentations on a range of science topics.
When Kirby was a child, her mother went through breast reconstruction surgery. The procedure involves anastomosis, or the suturing together of blood vessels. “If there’s inflammation at the site of suture, that can quickly close up that blood vessel, and those sutures can fail,” says Kirby. This can cause scars, reopening of wounds, infections or, as in the case of breast reconstruction surgery, death of surrounding tissue. Her mother’s experience inspired Kirby to look for alternatives that would minimize the inflammation of sutured vessels.
In Hamilton’s laboratory, Kirby works with electrospun polymers, which have emerged as an attractive material for wound-healing technologies. Under high voltage, polymer solutions are drawn into delicate nanofibers that can be molded into different shapes, including dissolvable stitches, and provide a surface for regenerating tissues.
Take, for instance, polydioxanone, a polymer already used for dissolvable surgical sutures. The material does not interact with living tissues and maintains its strength for weeks. After the wound heals, these sutures break down, turning into simpler biomolecules that are metabolized by the body or passed in urine.
In previous work, scientists have coated polydioxanone sutures with anti-inflammatory drugs by dipping the strands in solutions containing these medications. But the drug molecules don’t hold on to the polymers tightly, which isn’t ideal for wounds that take longer to heal. And the dipped strands release the anti-inflammatory drug quickly in the body, which can interfere with the synthesis of collagen — the protein that provides tissues with the scaffolding required to heal the wound. “New collagen is laid down between the two- and four-week mark,” says Kirby. “So, you need something that won’t be released immediately.”
The researchers mitigated the quick-release problem by blending polydioxanone with another polymer that binds anti-inflammatory drugs during the electrospinning process. The drugs are attached to the new polymer by covalent bonds. The bonds break down gradually, ensuring that the attached anti-inflammatory drug is released into the wound slowly over weeks.
The team is experimenting with different polymers, probing how fast they release drugs and how adjustable those release rates are. These new stitches could eliminate the need to remember to take oral pain medications. Moreover, by reducing inflammation and limiting scars, they could increase the success rates for anastomosis procedures.
In the future, the researchers plan to scale up their solution from thin electrospun polymers to a fiber that is sufficiently strong and flexible for surgeons to stitch with. The team is seeking collaborations that would allow them to test the new stitches in animal models. This would be a critical step toward commercialization, as it would test how the drug-release rate changes with scale and whether any preexisting conditions could hinder its use in certain patient groups.
The researchers are also looking at electrospinning other biomedical polymers into sutures. Blending in an antibacterial polymer, for example, could make the stitches resistant to bacterial infections. Likewise, “We could combine the drug-loaded polymer with other materials to make not just an anti-inflammatory suture, but something that helps rebuild the collagen even quicker,” says Hamilton.
The research was funded by the Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program through a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Visit the ACS Spring 2026 program to learn more about this presentation, “Development and characteristics of ester-linked NSAID-polymer conjugates towards limiting suture site inflammation,” and other science presentations.
###
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1876 and chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS is committed to improving all lives through the transforming power of chemistry. Its mission is to advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community and champion scientific integrity, and its vision is a world built on science. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS Division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
To automatically receive press releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note to journalists: Please report that this research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society. ACS does not conduct research, but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Follow us: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
Title
Development and characteristics of ester-linked NSAID-polymer conjugates towards limiting suture site inflammation
Abstract
Biodegradable sutures are used in anastomosis procedures, the surgical joining of blood vessels, however these procedures can incur risks associated with scar tissue development post operatively that can limit blood flow. Inflammation resulting from the procedure can be the cause of scar tissue. If one could limit inflammation, scar tissue development could decrease and increase the success rate of the sutures to promote restored blood flow. Polymerization of p-dioxanone is a known procedure and is the foundation of most current biodegradable sutures used, however polydioxanone (PDO) does not contain functional groups capable of attaching a cleavable group that could release an anti-inflammatory. By creating a biodegradable suture or adhesive with the ability to carry a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), it is anticipated that this material would minimize scar tissue development and procure better success rates for anastomosis procedures. This project explores the synthesis of several innately therapeutic polymers in which an NSAID was covalently attached to the polymer via a cleavable ester linkage. These polymers were then incorporated into wound healing materials and the release rate of the NSAID from the constructs under physiological conditions was observed via UV-VIS spectroscopy. Moving forward, these polymers could be used with p-dioxanone to develop a more modern suture material. Additionally, it is anticipated that these polymers could have a variety of biomedical applications, particularly with respect to controlled drug delivery.
END