Learning about Sutures

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I am new to the OR as a circulator and I am looking for more information about sutures. The hospital I work for does not train the circulators on how to scrub so I don't get to see close ups on what's going on. Does anyone have any recommendation as how to learn about what types of sutures are used for the different areas of the body. I want to be able to anticipate what type of suture is going to be needed. silk, vicryl, ect. Thank you very much.

Lee

Specializes in Pediatrics.

OMG!!! This was awesome! I'm not even in the OR yet, but I could visualize (as best I could) what you were describing. Thank you so much for this detail, this has become a part of my study cards lol

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Thank you, CP for this detailed explanation. Just made my day a tad bit easier. Been having a terrible time with the suture portion. Thank you for this post.

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Great post! Thank you! I also want to say that 0 silk is used when you want to hold something in place forever, for example a pacemaker/ICD tied to the chest muscle, and it's leads. You wouldn't want these sutures to absorb/disappear in time because the device could fall into the armpit/breast area.

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Pghfoxfan1 said:
Great post! Thank you! I also want to say that 0 silk is used when you want to hold something in place forever, for example a pacemaker/ICD tied to the chest muscle, and it's leads. You wouldn't want these sutures to absorb/disappear in time because the device could fall into the armpit/breast area.

I don't know if I'd say silk should be used when you want something in a place forever.... while it isn't absorbable, it does lose tensile strength over time... I suppose in your example with an ICD though, it will retain its strength long enough for scar tissue in the pocket to form, "cementing" it in place, aka fixating in place.

Here is the manufacturer page on silk indicating loss of tensile strength over time.

http://woundclosure.ethicon.com/product-code-search/624H

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All I can say is this is brilliant....I will find a way to print this out!!! Now, if only you were in Alabama...#thisisawesome #thankyou

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