Absorbable sutures are in use for more than 30 years. Tissue reactions which might be associated with suture material have rarely been reported in the past. After a long period without complications caused by suture material we observed 12 cases of unexpected tissue reactions after clean operations. Our patients 3-8 weeks after uneventful elective clean operations (varicose vein, hernia, benign...

The interrupted vertical and horizontal mattress suture techniques are two of the most commonly used skin closure methods. These mattress sutures promote wound edge eversion and less prominent scarring. Vertical and horizontal mattress sutures allow for skin edges to be closed under tension when wound edges have to be brought together over a distance. The corner stitch, a variation of the horiz...

CASE REPORT A woman was operated on for strabismus under topical anesthesia. An exudative conjunctivitis was diagnosed immediately after the surgery, and a uveal effusion syndrome diagnosed 15 days later. Surgery exploration, vycril suture removal and therapy with systemic, sub-tenon, and topical corticosteroid and antibiotics was initiated. Intraoperative culture revealed evidence of Staphyloc...

We describe a case of pulmonary oedema occurring at 37 weeks gestation, following the attempted removal of a cervical suture under general anaesthesia. The use of an ultrasound technique to demonstrate the patient's fluid status is described. Signs of amniotic fluid embolism and how it exerts its influence on the circulation are discussed.

BACKGROUND This study evaluated the outcome of wounds closed with irradiated polyglactin 910 (IRPG) Vicryl Rapide (Ethicon, Somerville, N.J.). METHOD Seventy-one patients with 80 oral wounds and 42 patients with 42 scalp wounds closed with IRPG were evaluated on the day of surgery, then one, seven, 14, 28 and 90 days following surgery. The incidence of inflammation, suppuration and hypertroph...

Repositioning the lower lateral cartilages during primary cleft nose repair often requires external bolsters to place suspension sutures. We describe a series of primary unilateral cleft nasal repairs using a modified Tajima technique. The cleft-side lower lateral cartilage is suspended to the contralateral upper lateral cartilage using a buried polydioxanone suture passed through a reverse-U i...

A 60-year-old man developed severe neuropathic pain and foot-drop in his left leg following resurfacing arthroplasty of the left hip. The pain was refractory to all analgesics for 16 months. At exploration, a PDS suture was found passing through the sciatic nerve at several points over 6 cm and terminating in a large knot. After release of the suture and neurolysis there was dramatic and rapid ...