Lectures ran from 8:30a-6p (I got to sleep in until 7 so that's a good start to a Friday!). I had a suture lab this morning; we learned how to do vertical and horizontal "mattress sutures" and how to tie surgeon's knots. Last week, I was taught how to do "Simple Interrupted Sutures". This technique is basically putting the needle in the far side of the wound, passing it through to the near side, and then tying a surgeon's knot to hold the suture in place. These sutures take a lot of time to place, but they allow for greater tension and, if followed-up properly, can reduce the risk of scarring.
Illustration of a Simple Interrupted Suture
Today, we practiced the "Vertical Mattress Suture". This is useful for really deep lacerations, as it allows the subcutaneous tissue to be brought together separately from the dermis, but that also means that there is room for placement error by the physician's suturing. It also has a fairly high risk of producing a "railroad-track scar". The technique is "far-far, near-near", which is labeled below as needle strikes "1, 2, 3, 4".
Illustration for the Vertical Mattress Suture:
Here's a picture of how I sutured my pig foot's laceration:
A few good quotes from today:
"Being a physician is the noblest profession; To me, teaching is the second noblest, and we, as physicians, have the opportunity to be a part of both. Share your knowledge, it will be your legacy." - Dr. G
"The safest place in the hospital is the Operating Room." - Dr. O
Reference: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1824895-overview#a03
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