All You Should Know About Sutures

Posted by Johnny Daniels on March 29th, 2022

When you injure yourself, you often develop wounds and cuts. If left untreated, it may take a longer time to heal completely. The wounded area becomes more prone to infections and pain during this phase. Hence, you need sutures to protect it from pathogens. Surgical sutures are a medical device that assists with wound healing. It effectively holds your body tissues together in the wounded area.

The application usually involves using a needle with the suture attached. It is then sown into the skin to close and repair deep cuts. The following aspects let you understand its functioning better:

Varieties

A suture comes in two varieties:

1. Absorbable sutures

The absorbable sutures do not require any removal. The enzymes of your skin tissues naturally digest them with time. Although they are more convenient, they cannot get used to all wounds.

1. Non-absorbable sutures

Non-absorbable sutures must be removed within a few days or weeks after your surgery. However, they may also be left in permanently. However, they do not cause any harm.

Material

The material of surgical sutures plays a significant role in its functionality. Hence, non-absorbable ones are made of synthetic materials. These include nylon, polypropylene, silk, and polyester. Meanwhile, absorbable sutures are made of natural materials. These include catgut, reconstituted collagen, polyglycolide, etc.

Types

Each wound is different from the other. It depends on where you have injured yourself and how deep it is. Considering this, there are different types of sutures:

1. Gut

This is a monofilament suture. It is used for repairing soft tissue lacerations or wounds. Hence, surgeons use it mainly for gynaecological surgeries. Also, such absorbable sutures take longer to heal and may leave some scars.

1. Polydioxanone (PDS)

A polydioxanone is a synthetic monofilament suture. It is commonly used for soft tissue repairs in abdominal closures, cardiovascular surgeries, general orthopaedic surgeries, etc.

1. Poliglecaprone (MONOCRYL)

Poliglecaprone sutures are synthetic. They come in handy for general soft tissue repair. They are ideal for repairing wounds in prominent body parts. This is because they invisibly close the skin. As a result, there are no significant scars left behind.

1. Polyglactin

Polyglactin is another synthetically braided suture. It repairs hand or faces lacerations and cuts.

Suture techniques

Sutures are sown using different techniques. This gets done for healing various wounds better. Following are the popular methods:

• Continuous: Involves a series of stitches using single suture material.
• Interrupted: Includes many strands of sutures to close the wound.
• Deep: This suture placement is under the layers of the skin\'s tissue.
• Buried: It is tying a suture knot inside the injury, which is invisible.
• Purse-string: Involves sewing the suture continuously around the wound to tighten it.
• Subcutaneous: It means placing the suture in the dermis.