Suture material on a reel

Re: Suture material on a reel

Celine — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 22:52:12 GMT

Ooooooh yeah I have totally seen this before.... along with a tub of spirit with washed old suture sitting in it for using for stitching in abcess drains, resterilising syringes AND NEEDLES, and all manner of other "cost-cutting" measures. Suture on a reel can still have its place if used correctly, but it does tend to appeal most to the cheapskate in us, have seen soooo many cassettes kicking around practices where all the fluid has long gone and it expired two years ago, but is still being used!

Re: Suture material on a reel

Sarah Cahill — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:19:31 GMT

Years ago we used to spray with surgical spirit, however it resulted in the break down of the plastic cassettes...!

Re: Suture material on a reel

F1chick — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 15:31:30 GMT

I discovered recently you are meant to re-tie a knot at the end........yeah, like that happens

Re: Suture material on a reel

Paulette — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:46:16 GMT

All good points that I had considered thank you. Catherine I completely agree - spirit does not have any antimicrobial properties. Just wanted some research and back up on my argument. Thanks everyone :)

Re: Suture material on a reel

Mark Hedberg — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:10:23 GMT

Depends on how you handle it. Leave a long tail and close the cap when you're done; don't reach in to pull out suture and don't cut it too short. Lift, cut the tip that was hanging out, and cut at the end. You tended to have a little waste, but it was counterbalanced by the fact that sometimes you just didn't need 75cm of suture :)

Re: Suture material on a reel

F1chick — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:10:20 GMT

That's one of the reasons we pull the 'old' bit of string out.........

Re: Suture material on a reel

Sal the 1st — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:50:16 GMT

if the suture we are talking about is catgut the fluid in the cassette is usually isopropyl alcohol not saline

Re: Suture material on a reel

Catherine Goulding — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:35:14 GMT

I'm not entirely sure what the liquid is that the suture is sitting in, but the chances of the suture being as sterile at the end of the material as at the beginning is highly unlikely. This type of packaging has not been used for years within the 'human' surgical field, although I completely appreciate that the use of single use packets significantly increases the cost of a surgical procedure. I would still argue that the use of surgical spirit on the inside of the top or rim would be utterly useless as surgical spirit is only a degreaser, not a sterilising agent.

Re: Suture material on a reel

Paulette — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:22:39 GMT

Thank you that's what I thought. Thanks for the replies. Perhaps it would be good to wipe the inside,top/rim and outside of hub with spirit at beginning of day if touching it multiple times. I always thought it was saline inside so I've learnt something new too!

Re: Suture material on a reel

Julie-Anne Wilson — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:43:53 GMT

Never done this or seen it being done. Always assumed the liquid inside was what was keeping it sterile so the act of putting spirit in the top seems a bit pointless.

Re: Suture material on a reel

Catherine Goulding — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 08:21:02 GMT

I have never seen this before and would suggest that with the solution being surgical spirit, it would be a total waste of time....