Time Efficient Suturing

Ever come across a long/deep/complex wound and feel an urge to sigh in despair?

It’s going to take me 45 minutes…maybe an hour (?) to close this wound from start to finish, and give the patient the great cosmetic outcome they desire and deserve.

This is not the case! With a little planning, and knowledge of how to use some basic and advanced suturing techniques in combination, you can efficiently close even the most daunting laceration in the same amount of time it would take you to complete an H&P on a patient with chest pain.

A little planning and use of several suturing techniques that are easy to learn can allow you to suture even the most complex wounds in a time-efficient manner.

Here’s a great example. This leg laceration, caused by an accident on a mountain bike, was closed in just 20 minutes using the following techniques:

Efficient Preparation & draping, anticipating all the suture types needed
Deep Dermal Simple Interrupted sutures x 4
A Corner suture, and specifically this V-shaped variation
Wound Debridement
Running percutanous sutures x 2

The video is a continuous, uncut laceration closure from start to finish in 20 minutes and 30 seconds, including preparation time. (It’s sped up though at times to create a 4 minute video so that you don’t get bored). You can click the links above for a deep dive in to any of the techniques used.

Enjoy, and happy new year!