A story in Medical Device Daily recently profiled a Texas bariatric surgeon who uses a wound-closing device made by Covidien that secures the sutures at the site of weight-loss surgery to prevent infection or bleeding. The medical hardware leads to faster healing, according to a press release at prweb.com.

Dr. David Kim spoke to Medical Device Daily about the release of the V-Loc PBT, the latest wound-closing device from Covidien, a Dublin, Ireland-based medical hardware firm. The V-Loc PBT has recently been FDA-cleared and “prepared for launch as the first non-absorbable, uni-directional barbed suture,” according to the press release.

At his Dallas weight loss surgery practice, Dr. Kim says the suture provides accuracy and uniformity during general and bariatric surgical procedures, a key factor in successful surgeries. The press release reports that he “uses the device to ensure security of the suture through another tissue layer during a procedure such as gastric bypass or gastric sleeve in Dallas,” according to the press release.

People have gastric bypass surgery when they need to lose significant amounts of weight.

In 2010, the latest year for which statistics are available, the prevalence of obesity was 20 percent in the U.S., and in 36 states, 25 percent or more of the population was not just overweight but obese. Even more frightening, 12 of these states reported obesity rates of 30 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Obesity can lead to heart disease, cancer, disability and reduced life expectancy, “as well as serious chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and Hyperlipidaemia (high levels of fat in the blood that can lead to narrowing and blockages of blood vessels),” according to a UK health Web site.

Covidien’s medical hardware, the V-Loc PBT device, uses “advanced barbing technology, which reduces the amount of foreign body to the tissue,” according to the press release.  Dr. Kim also notes another major factor of this medical hardware’s success at closing wounds is that the procedure can now be performed much more quickly “because it incorporates a self-anchoring loop and barb combination and eliminates the need for knot-tying during the suture,” according to the press release. In addition, “another major benefit of the barbed suture is that tension is distributed evenly across the wound, meaning less tension on the ends and a facilitated closure of multiple layers of tissue simultaneously.”

Because the medical device is non-absorbable, which means that it causes the tissue to encapsulate itself, Dr. Kim says the V-Loc PBT provides “added mechanical strength for extended periods of time without sacrificing patient comfort.”

Another benefit of the medical hardware, Dr. Kim feels, is that it makes for quicker healing while helping surgeons get good results. Knot-tying is one of the most difficult, yet important, parts of surgery. But by eliminating knot-tying and reducing tension on the wounds, Dr. Kim says in the press release, “physicians can achieve the highest quality results and the minimum amount of patient discomfort.” Dr. Kim adds in the press release that he hopes this new medical hardware “will help further promote the development of surgical techniques and patient care.”