Local anaphylaxis has been suggested as a mechanism which provokes disruption or delayed healing of surgical wounds. Catgut sutures have been considered the offending allergen in such instances. As a direct effect of antigen-antibody reaction within the wound, premature dissolution of catgut and/or increased inflammatory reaction have been postulated. In a preceding study,1 evidence was presented to show that premature dissolution of catgut or significant inflammatory response does not occur in the tissues of specifically sensitized animals on contact with catgut, because of the relative insolubility of this material. The effect of local anaphylactic reaction within the tissues of a healing wound thus remains to be investigated. In order to determine this effect, a new mechanism was sought, one by which a local concentration of soluble antigen and specific antibody at the site of the healing wound could be effected.
Auer,2 in 1920, first demonstrated that at the