The absorbable sutures are degraded in the tissues by a process of hydrolysis, by which they gradually lose their resistance to tension. The degradation by hydrolysis causes a minimal reaction in the tissues.

This process has two stages. In the first stage, the tensile strength decreases gradually and almost linearly. The second stage usually overlaps the previous one and is characterized by the loss of suture mass. In this phase, the leukocytes act to eliminate cell remnants and suture materials from the wound. Therefore, the loss of tensile strength and absorption are different processes. For this reason, the loss of tensile strength is the most important value to take into account when selecting an absorbable suture.