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9 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Purpose of suture
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To hold a wound together in good apposition until such time as the natural healing process is sufficiently well established to make the support from the suture material unnecessary and redundant.
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Natural suture materials
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Absorbable
*Catgut – Plain or chromic Nonabsorbal *Silk *Linen *Stainless Steel Wire |
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Synthetic suture materials
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Absorbable
*Polyglycolic Acid (Dexon) *Polyglactin (Vicryl) *Polydioxone (PDS) *Polyglyconate (Maxon) Non-Absorbable *Polyamide (Nylon) *Polyester (Dacron) *Polypropylene (Prolene) |
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Absorbable suture are broken down by either:
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Proteolysis (e.g. Catgut)
Hydrolysis (e.g. Vicryl, Dexon) |
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Catgut
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*Made from the submucosa of sheep gastrointestinal tract
*Broken down within about a week *Chromic acid delays hydrolysis *Even so it is destroyed before many wounds have healed |
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Silk
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Strong and handles well but induces strong tissue reaction
Capillarity encourages infection causing suture sinuses and abscesses |
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Vicryl
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Tensile strength
*70% @ 14 days *50% @ 28 days * 14% @ 56 days *Absorption complete by 180 days |
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Common errors of suture use
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Too many throws. Increases foreign body size. Causes stitch abscesses
Intra-cuticular rather than subcuticular sutures causing hypertrophic scars Holding monofilament sutures with instruments reduces tensile strength by over 50% Holding butt of needle causes needle and suture breakage |
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Removal of Sutures
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Sutures should be removed at:
Head/face 5 days Upper limb 7 days Abd & lower limb 10 days |
