Where Have Stitches Gone?

[leahbee]

Just seen my sisters wounds after she has had a double heart bypass and was surprised how neat they were. I expected to see ugly stitches but was amazed that there were non, I was told that this is because the wounds had been glued together. Is this standard practice now? It has meant that she did not need visits from district nurses to change bandages etc.
We should all be thankful that we have such expert surgeons in the national health.

[2sp_]

I think glue (surgical, not UHU) is being used more and more, for all the reasons you have said.

I think it leaves a better scar too.

[leahbee]

Thank you 2sp. I have never heard of this before.

[boxtops]

if the wound is not subject to stretching, glue is often used, but not always. I believe it is a sort of superglue - someone told me that's how they invented superglue, look how it sticks your fingers together!

It really depends on the wound - when OH broke his knee, he had 27 staples down the length of the wound because it was otherwise so likely to burst open when he moved.

[Sqad]

boxy is correct......"glue" is not always the answer for closure of wounds and may have its dangers.

Any wound that has either a superficial appearance or solid undersurface, i.e sternum after bypass is ideal, but in the abdomen it may be dangerous to use "glue" as it may seep down and cause problems.

Stapling and Subcuticular (under the skin) is still the standard closure procedures, but "glue" (Dermabond , i think) still has it's place.

[leahbee]

Thanks boxtops. The wound on her leg is from the knee to her ankle and all that you can see is a line no wider than a hair, this is just four weeks after the op.The surgeons must have very steady hands . Amazing.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

27 years ago I had a caesarean section with dissolving stitches inside and glue on the outside.
I hard a hard job even convincing the nurses that I had no stitches to remove

[Baldric]

I had a major Op, (AVR) in '09, woke up expecting bandages the size of a pillow,
Wrong!
Wound glued up, and only protection was a strip of what looked like brown parcel tape just to cover wound,

[boxtops]

It probably was, balders, LOL - I won't forget waking up after my hysterectomy and finding a sanitary towel (sorry, chaps) taped across the wound....

[leahbee]

Thanks sqad and Mojo.
Being a little bit thick myself I am always in awe when I see things like this . Who first thought of glue and who knows what will be invented in my lifetime.

[Zeuhl]

leahbee

I'm confused...

/Just seen my sisters wounds after she has had a double heart bypass/

/The wound on her leg is from the knee to her ankle /

I know heart surgery is often carried out via the groin but that wound doesn't seem very 'keyhole'

[Sqad]

boxy

\\\\ finding a sanitary towel (sorry, chaps) \\

More and more men are learning about that sort of thing............;-)

[Sqad]

Zeuhl.....the leg wound from ankle to knee is to "harvest " the graft for the bypass.......a bloody long vein.

[leahbee]

Zeuhl, THE WOUND I am referring to is on the leg where they removed the veins to use to repair the heart.
It certainly was'nt keyhole surgery ,she has extensive cuts on her chest. She says that she was told that they had to break one or some of her ribs!
Thank you all for your replies and just to tell you that she has never once complained or moaned. I am very proud of her.

[Sqad]

leahbee.....oddly enough, heart bypass surgery is not particularly painful...the odd Ibuprofen if necessary.

Having a baby or having a tooth out is far more painful.

[leahbee]

Sqad, typical answer from a doctor. Believe it or not but a member of my family is a
cardiovascular surgeon and that is the kind of thing he would say. You know what they say about childbirth though, if men had them they would only have one.

[2sp_]

Sqad, I love how you lump child birth and tooth extraction together!

;-)

[Zeuhl]

leahbee and sqad

Ta muchly for explanations - Blimey!

That is about as much as I ever want to know about heart by pass surgery

Hope your sister continues to thrive
:-)

[glenbar]

Yes I have seen this before and although the NHS has its problems we are extremely lucky to have it. I just hope it manages to survive under all the strain and suspiciously wonder if the Gov really want to privatise it.