Suture, absorbable, natural: medical device reports filed with FDA

2,498 reports carry this product code, 1994–2026; 13 brands with a page.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "Although MDRs are a valuable source of information, this passive surveillance system has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data. In addition, the incidence or prevalence of an event cannot be determined from this reporting system alone due to potential under-reporting of events and lack of information about frequency of device use." And: "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

2,498
reports with this product code: 0% of all MAUDE reports; 129
reports, 12 months to August 2026: 120 in the 12 months before; 75.9%
classified as malfunction: 62.3% across all reports; 0.2%
classified as death, as reported: 0.9% across all reports

Product code GAL is FDA's classification for "Suture, absorbable, natural" (general, Plastic Surgery panel), a class 2 device. 2,498 medical device reports carry this product code, 0% of the MAUDE database, from February 1994 to August 2026.

129 reports arrived in the 12 months to August 2026, close to the 120 of the 12 months before. FDA releases MAUDE data monthly; reports can arrive months after an event, so the newest months grow in later releases. The event types recorded are malfunction (75.9%), injury (22.8%) and other (0.6%). 13 brand names with a page on this site carry this code; the brands table is ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data."

Brands with this product code

Brand	Reports	Latest 12 months	Classified as death	Classified as malfunction
Gut Surgical Suture	289	0	0.3%	43.4%
Ethicon	39	164	2.3%	54.2%
Suture Unknown	7	39	0.6%	50.1%
McKesson	6	74	0%	89.7%
Ethilon	5	183	0%	98.4%
Coated VICRYL (polyglactin 910) Suture	4	20	0.5%	19.4%
Unknown Suture Product	4	28	0.9%	45.3%
Artificial Urinary Sphincter	2	3	0%	0.4%
Henry Schein	2	43	0%	39.5%
PROLENE Polypropylene Suture	2	177	3.4%	51.5%
Dover	1	32	0.6%	87.7%
MONOCRYL (poliglecaprone 25) Suture	1	24	0%	24.9%
Panacryl L-Lactide/Glycolide Suture	1	0	0%	0%

Ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data."

Manufacturers named

Manufacturer (as written on reports)	Reports	Share
B Braun Surgical	331	13.3%
Ethicon	183	7.3%
United States Surgical	115	4.6%
Davis & Geck Caribe	108	4.3%
American Medical Systems	2	0.1%
Ethicon San Angelo	2	0.1%
Alere San Diego	1	0%
Covidien Surgical	1	0%
Medtronic Heart Valves	1	0%

Reports by month, five years

FDA releases MAUDE data monthly; reports can arrive months after an event, so the newest months grow in later releases.

Event type and report source

Event type

Death0.2%5

Injury22.8%570

Malfunction75.9%1,896

Other0.6%16

Not given0.4%11

Who filed

Manufacturer report95.2%2,377

Voluntary report2.4%61

User facility report0%0

Distributor report0.3%8

Not given2.1%52

Grey bar: all 26,136,888 MAUDE reports.

Device problems coded

Device problem (FDA code)	Reports	Share
Breakthe device broke	1,046	41.9%
Material separation	220	8.8%
Other (for use when an appropriate device code cannot be identified)	177	7.1%
Material frayed	87	3.5%
Suture line disruption	87	3.5%
Detachment of device or device componentpart of the device came off	85	3.4%
Detachment of device component	61	2.4%
Fluid/blood leak	54	2.2%
Reactiona reaction, type not specified	50	2%
Absorption	46	1.8%
Needle, separation	46	1.8%
Component(s), broken	45	1.8%
Material integrity problema problem with the device material	43	1.7%
Replace	40	1.6%
Patient-device incompatibilitythe device did not suit the patient	39	1.6%
Leak/splashthe device leaked	29	1.2%
Device issuea problem with the device	27	1.1%
Device markings/labelling problema problem with the device markings or label	23	0.9%
Device operates differently than expectedthe device behaved unexpectedly	22	0.9%
Suture line separation	19	0.8%

Questions about suture, absorbable, natural reports

What is product code GAL?

FDA's classification code for "Suture, absorbable, natural", class 2, reviewed by the general, Plastic Surgery panel. Every device report carries the product code of the device involved.

How many reports carry this code?

2,498 reports through August 2026, 129 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which brands appear most often?

Gut Surgical Suture (289), Ethicon (39), Suture Unknown (7), McKesson (6) and Ethilon (5). Widely used products collect more reports because more people use them.

Can the brands table be used to rank the devices?

No. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data." Brands differ in how many are in use, how long they have been sold and how reports are collected.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Device Adverse Event (MAUDE) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 31 Aug 2026. Brand, generic and manufacturer names are as written on the reports; product code names come from FDA's device classification. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.