Antimicrobial sutures and methods of making them

1. A method comprising:

providing a multifilament suture;

permeating the multifilament suture with an antimicrobial solution; and

applying an antimicrobial coating containing about 5% to about 25% of an antimicrobial agent and from about 10 percent to about 20 percent of one or more fatty acid components onto at least a portion of the surface of the permeated multifilament suture.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial solution comprises at least one antimicrobial agent selected from the group consisting of antibiotics, antiseptics, disinfectants and combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial solution comprises triclosan.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial solution comprises at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of alcohols, ketones, ethers, aldehydes, acetonitrile, acetic acid, methylene chloride, chloroform and water.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial coating comprises at least one antimicrobial agent and at least one film-forming polymer.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial coating comprises at least one antimicrobial agent selected from the group consisting of antibiotics, antiseptics, disinfectants and combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial coating comprises triclosan.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial coating comprises at least one film-forming polymer that contains linkages derived from one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of glycolide, lactide, caprolactone, trimethylene carbonate, dioxanones and dioxepanones.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the antimicrobial coating comprises a glycolide/caprolactone copolymer as the film-forming polymer.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more fatty acid components are selected from the group consisting of fatty acids, fatty acid salts and fatty acid esters.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more fatty acid components comprises at least one salt of a fatty acid ester selected from the group consisting of magnesium stearoyl lactylate, aluminum stearoyl lactylate, barium stearoyl lactylate, zinc stearoyl lactylate, calcium palmityl lactylate, magnesium palmityl lactylate, aluminum palmityl lactylate, barium palmityl lactylate, zinc palmityl lactylate, calcium olelyl lactylate, magnesium olelyl lactylate, aluminum olelyl lactylate, barium olelyl lactylate, zinc olelyl lactylate, and calcium stearoyl lactylate.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more fatty acid components is calcium stearoyl lactylate.