Suture materials

Question 1

what is the definitino of suture?

Answer 1

Suture is the material used to promote wound healing by surgically joining the margins or ends of the wound and holding them securely together to reduce the tension between them

Question 2

define suturing:

Answer 2

the process of applying a suture

Question 3

define ligature

Answer 3

the material used to close blood vesseks and stop haemorrhage

Question 4

what are some of the charaturistics of suture?

Answer 4

• high tensile strength
• easy to tie p secure knots
• inhibits tissue reactions
• easily steralised
• surface inhibits bacterial ahdhesion

Question 5

what are the different structure types of suture?

Answer 5

Monofilament – consisting of a single filament with a variable thickness/diameter
Multifilament – comprising bundles of very fine filaments formed into a thicker thread of the desired diameter (they are usually braided)

Question 6

what is the definition of tensile streength?

Answer 6

the breaking strength per unit area

Question 7

what is the memory of a suture? what suture has a stronger memory?

Answer 7

the tendancy to retain original configuration (what it was like in the packet)
monofilament has a stronger/higher memory (more difficult to tie safe knots with

Question 8

define ‘chatter’ and tissue drag of a suture

Answer 8

‘lack of smoothness or friction whilst passing through tissue’

Question 9

define tissue reation relating to suture:

Answer 9

Tissues respond to the implantation of sutures as they do to other foreign material and can provoke an inflammatory response

Question 10

what are the advantages of absorable suture?

Answer 10

• they disappear
• low risk of long-term foreign-body reation

Question 11

what are the disadvantages of absorable suture?

Answer 11

• lose strenght
• limited period of wound support

Question 12

what are the advantages of non-absorable suture?

Answer 12

• permenant
• provides indefinite wound support

Question 13

what are the disadvantages of non-absorable suture?

Answer 13

• they do not disappear
• possibility of delayed reactions such as foreign body reation

Question 14

what are the advantages of braided suture?

Answer 14

• easy to handle
• excellent knotting (very secure)

Question 15

what are the disadvantages of braided suture?

Answer 15

• greater friction and tissue drag
• more tissue trauma

Question 16

what are the advantages of monofilament suture?

Answer 16

• minimal tissue trauma
• passes through tissue easily
• no capillary action

Question 17

what are the disadvantages of monofilament suture?

Answer 17

• harder to handle
• harder to knot
• requires different knoting techniques for greater security

Question 18

what are the consequences of suture material implantaion?

Answer 18

Suture material is foreign body
** Tissue reaction**
- absorption characteristics
- natural vs. synthetic
- phagocytosis (marcrophages, more agressive) vs. hydrolysis
** Amount of material**
- interrupted vs. continuous
Presence of infection
- monofilament vs. multifilament

Question 19

what way is cat gut absorberd by the body?

Answer 19

via phagocytosis using macrophages which is more agressive and provokes a bigger body reation

Question 20

if infection is present or suspected durign a surgery what type of filament should be used?

Answer 20

monofilament as the texture of braided allows for ahdesion and hidign of bacteria and is therefore harder for the host to elimiate

Question 21

what is the sizing of suture?

Answer 21

the small the number the smaller the suture
0 was the smalles but now there are smaller sizes so 2-0 is smaller than 0 and 3-0 is smaller than 2-0

Question 22

what are the two sytems for naming suture size?

Answer 22

USP - United States Pharmacopia
Based on tensile strength rather than diameter
11-0 to 7
Increasing size/strength

Metric
1/10mm of diameter of suture (‘2’ = 0.2 mm)
0.1-10

Question 23

what are the four types of needels showned here?

Answer 23

A - closed (eyed)
B - closed (eyed)
C - split (eyed)
D - swaged

Question 24

what are the issues of eyed needles?

Answer 24

• double strand of suture material
• multiple use => blunt
• increased tissue trauma

Question 25

what are the benefits of swaged needles?

Answer 25

• minimal trauma
• single use
• optimal penetration properties

Question 26

what is the cord length of a needle?

Answer 26

the distance between the needle point and the swage or eye
(not always the same as the radius)

Question 27

what is the curvature of a needle?

Answer 27

A needle’s radius of curvature is expressed in proportion to a circle

Question 28

what type of wounds need more curved needles?

Answer 28

deeper wounds

Question 29

what are the differnt types of points of needles?

Answer 29

• blunt (circular, elliptic)
• sharp (polygonal)
• compound (tapercut, short cutting point, etc)

Question 30

what is the composition of needles?

Answer 30

stainless alloys so that is bends rather than breaks (ductility)

Question 31

what are the three parts of the needle?

Answer 31

the point
the body
the eye

Question 32

that are non-absorbable sutures?

Answer 32

materials that stay in place for an indefinite period
(actually, the definition of this is 60 days) without changing (breaking down) in any way

Question 33

what metal are metal sutures made from?

Answer 33

stainless steel

Question 34

what is cat gut made of?

Answer 34

the submucosa of the small intestine of sheep and cattle

Question 35

what is absorable suture?

Answer 35

materials that are fully degraded and absorbed by the body once placed