SUTURING 101

Today I had school all day. Part of the reason why we had school today was to learn how to suture. I have watched many physicians, NP’s, and PA’s suture but have never actually done it myself. Well, today was the day I was going to learn to suture lacerations on pig’s feet. I was ready to go for it and give it the best I had. I knew the poor pig who gave up his foot for me would be proud.

An E.R. physician was giving our lecture today. He gave a quick overview on the proper techniques of suturing as well as how to suture different types of wounds. We also got a quick reference book which I will be looking at frequently. There is a lot of terminology in the world of suturing.

We had our pig’s feet in front of each of us along with a package of suture, hemostats, scissors, and tweezers. The physician quickly showed us the proper way of taking the needle out of the pack using the hemostats. It looked easy enough. I grabbed the needle with the hemostats and started to pull out the suture. Once out of the package it curled up in a tight little mess around my hand. I looked around the room to see if anybody looked as clumsy as me. I noticed everybody else was fumbling around the same.

Once the suture was tame and straighter I picked one of the lacerations on my pig’s foot. With the hemostat grabbing the needle I put the needle in one side of the laceration of my pig’s foot. The skin was tough. I put the needle through the one side and then put it through the other. This is where I made a mental note. “Thumb should not be close to the skin where the needle is coming out.” Yes, I poked my finger. I personally think I should be restricted from sharp objects because I tend to cut myself with them. I looked around the room to make sure nobody was watching me. Everybody was focused on suturing their own pig’s foot.

My first suture was in. Now I had to tie it. The physician came around the room and showed us how to make the knots. He quickly wrapped the suture around the hemostats twice then grabbed the short end of the suture where my first poke was. He made it look easy enough. He did this several times and said that was enough. I needed to do the first one with two wraps around the hemostat and then three more with only one wrap going in opposite directions. I watched the needle intensely because I did not want another souvenir from suturing 101. I fumbled around wrapping the suture then grabbing the short end trying to make the knot. It did not look good. Suture went flying as did the needle. I knew if this was the real situation I would have contaminated my sterile field. I also thought the wound would probably heal naturally before I could get it sutured. Another mental note…”Don’t get a job that required me to suture.”

After three packs of suturing material I was feeling much more confident. My hemostat was spinning around the suture like a pro as I grabbed the short end to make my knots. The laceration on my pig foot looked pretty darn good for a novice. I then decided suturing was not as bad as I originally thought. The scary part is I will be doing this on an actual person in the near future. It probably would be a good thing if they were unconscious. Oh boy…