Abstract: A surgical system for use in forming a looped support of body portions of mammals consisting of a suture comprising a thin, narrow, flexible strip; a cylindrical sleeve through which the ends of said suture are placed, and means for crimping or attaching said sleeve so as to interlock the ends of said suture when said end portions are in lapping relationship.

Abstract: A suture of a type particularly adaptable for employment for operations such as that referred to as "urethrovaginal fixation to Cooper's ligament in the treatment of stress incontinence." The suture is employed in the form of a loop with its end portions in interlocking engagement. The suture comprises an elongated, flexible, plastic-coated, thin steel band penetrated by longitudinal series of rectangular apertures with their greater dimensions extending longitudinally of the band. Both ends of the band have projecting shouldered tongues normally lying in the plane of the band. When the suture is formed into a loop with the end portions thereof in overlapping relationship, as occurs during the final stages of an operation such as that referred to above, the tongue at the end of the overlapping portion is twisted from its planar position and inserted in a selected aperture of the underlapping portion.