redneckmedic
Grandmaster
That a good story, and if we were drinking coffee talking shop I woundnt bring it up... think about your audiance here pal, no one is an attending nor a medical artist... forest through the trees bud.
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Suture kits, and why you need them.
- Thread starter jmiller676
- Start date
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That a good story, and if we were drinking coffee talking shop I woundnt bring it up... think about your audiance here pal, no one is an attending nor a medical artist... forest through the trees bud.
The last injury I received was to the back of my right hand. Reacting to a nest of wasps in a roof mounted A/C unit I put my hand in a 3/4 HP direct drive fan spinning at speed. Cut the tendons on my middle and ring finger and caused sevre trauma to my hand.
The injury happened early afternoon, I was at the ER within 10 minutes of the injury. The ER Dr looked at my hand, had it x-rayed and then had the wound cleaned up, bandaged up and it wasn't until 2 PM the next day when I had surgery to repair the damage.
I ended up having 11 internal disolving sutures and 32 external sutures. which stayed in for just about a week before they were taken out.
After 3 months worth of re-hab and I was back to almost normal. still can't bend my fingers all the way closed and I lost about 30-40% of the strength in my hand but I am back to about 90% now.
Oh, the most annoying part of the whole deal is the scar area on the side of my hand where thy took a skin graft from is very sensitive since the incident.
Word to everyone, shut off and lock out all equipment before attemtping any repair. Inspect before repairing..
I'd post pictures but some might not like the graphic pictures..
TJ
The injury happened early afternoon, I was at the ER within 10 minutes of the injury. The ER Dr looked at my hand, had it x-rayed and then had the wound cleaned up, bandaged up and it wasn't until 2 PM the next day when I had surgery to repair the damage.
I ended up having 11 internal disolving sutures and 32 external sutures. which stayed in for just about a week before they were taken out.
After 3 months worth of re-hab and I was back to almost normal. still can't bend my fingers all the way closed and I lost about 30-40% of the strength in my hand but I am back to about 90% now.
Oh, the most annoying part of the whole deal is the scar area on the side of my hand where thy took a skin graft from is very sensitive since the incident.
Word to everyone, shut off and lock out all equipment before attemtping any repair. Inspect before repairing..
I'd post pictures but some might not like the graphic pictures..
TJ
Boiled Owl
Sharpshooter
lidocaine....nice to have some with that suture kit.
Boiled Owl
Sharpshooter
Good question. It's available at veterinary med sites reasonable. But with a prescription. Anyone know Elvis' vet?
Yep what he said. The stuff is pretty dangerous. That is why we do not use it. It still has that exothermic reaction. They just moved it into the bandage.
I had one gunshot this year I got to use a tourniquet on. If I were going to spend any money on something ( with proper training ), I would buy a few of those. BTW the gunshot was a femoral artery hit.
Some good advice on Quikclot.
The Case Against QuikClot | The Survival Mom
Sorry survival boards like the crap. Some people have more money than sense.
Is this where the internet doctors hang out? I've been thinking about doing my own Appendectomy, and based on the info I gathered on this thread, I can safely do this at home as long as I have a sharp knife, some QuikClot, needle and thread, and I seal it all back up within 12 hours (though still in debate)? Anything I'm missing?
In all seriousness though, been a medic for quite a while, and I'm all for keeping non-seriously injured people out of the ED... but you only get one body, and only one life. So you save $100 by stitching yourself up, but what happens when that thing gets an infection, and you end up a lot worse off (or dead)? My well-being is worth a lot more than the cost of a couple sutures.
We judge the fit and finish of our guns everyday, why not care about our own bodies in the same manner? I'd rather give a pro a couple bucks to make that nasty gash look as good as it can, rather than take momma's needle and thread to it. Plus, that scar tissue might cause other problems later on.
Prep for SHTF all you want, but we're no there yet, and I can't see the logic in DIY suturing when any occ-health place would do it for next to nothing.
In all seriousness though, been a medic for quite a while, and I'm all for keeping non-seriously injured people out of the ED... but you only get one body, and only one life. So you save $100 by stitching yourself up, but what happens when that thing gets an infection, and you end up a lot worse off (or dead)? My well-being is worth a lot more than the cost of a couple sutures.
We judge the fit and finish of our guns everyday, why not care about our own bodies in the same manner? I'd rather give a pro a couple bucks to make that nasty gash look as good as it can, rather than take momma's needle and thread to it. Plus, that scar tissue might cause other problems later on.
Prep for SHTF all you want, but we're no there yet, and I can't see the logic in DIY suturing when any occ-health place would do it for next to nothing.
jrogers
Why not pass the time with a game of solitaire?
I can understand wanting to know how to suture as a precaution against an actual (if unlikely) survival scenario, but choosing not to go to the ER for something like this is bizarre. I want to say that it's a good argument for ensuring that everyone has medical insurance, but I imagine people would still choose to do it in the bathroom without proper training anyway.
Excellent post. Rep inbound.
Be sure to read the comments because I think that is where the real value lies. Combat medic comments towards the end where additional, real world insights were given were valuable and applicable to my medical preps.
Combat gauze looks like the way to go for last resort use.
RNM, I would appreciate your thoughts on the article and the comments.
I haven't read all of the comments but as far as I've gone is still based upon the OLD quikclot. I'm not advocating its use but I would like to hear more up to date information on the topic. As soon as you see words like "granules", "powder", "exothermic" or anything referring to it generating heat are all based upon the old formulas.
Here's a little excerpt from the article. "Prior to 2008, QuikClot also produced a lot of heat when it reacted with blood, and this can be very painful—even burn flesh. If a granule flew into an eye, ouch! The more recent version uses a chemical that doesn’t cause as much of a burn reaction, although it can still get hot when it comes in contact with plain water. They’ve also encased it in gauze. Hallelujah!”
Actually from the videos I've seen, the new QC doesn't cause exothermic reactions when it comes into contact with liquid at all. Here's one, can't find the other yet. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE-jtDrY6G4[/ame]
I have worked in the operating room for over 20 years and can't even begin to tell you about all the do-it-yourself crap we have had to fix. It's a bad idea ! I am military trained and even we know when to ship stuff back for treatment. In an extreme last resort no choice situation I understand, but to save a few bucks nope. Unless you have a thorough understanding of Anatomy and Physiology so you can avoid nerve damage or worse leave it to the pro's.
I'm not an expert at any of this (or anything else, really), but . . .
For those you who are considering doing their own suturing, do some research on debriding and irrigating wounds as well. If you don't get it adequately clean before you close it, you can make things a lot worse.
Re: hemostatic agents like Quick-Clot
Aside from what has been discussed already, a key element is that hemostatic agents require application of direct pressure to be effective. In most cases, the application of pressure is what does the trick and would work just as well without the quick-clot et al. The addition of the powder/sponge,gauze is an unnecessary step and as noted by others complicates the debriding and cleaning of wounds afterward.
If you feel like you must use one, Celox is probably the best choice.
For those you who are considering doing their own suturing, do some research on debriding and irrigating wounds as well. If you don't get it adequately clean before you close it, you can make things a lot worse.
Re: hemostatic agents like Quick-Clot
Aside from what has been discussed already, a key element is that hemostatic agents require application of direct pressure to be effective. In most cases, the application of pressure is what does the trick and would work just as well without the quick-clot et al. The addition of the powder/sponge,gauze is an unnecessary step and as noted by others complicates the debriding and cleaning of wounds afterward.
If you feel like you must use one, Celox is probably the best choice.
This is true.
I've ordered fish tank antibiotics before as a test to see exactly what the "hype" was about. I order this product: Link
and received these pills: A45 imprint (amoxicillin 500mg) - Drugs.com which is human Rx Amoxicillin 500mg exactly like you'd receive from a Pharmacy.
Same stuff I get. Be careful though, using them when not needed is bringing around some nasty new bugs. There was a post on one of the blogs I follow that talked about a new one that is resistant to ALL forms of antibiotics. They are seeing it in medical centers and hospitals. CES I think it was called, like Mersa on steroids.
Same here, wife gets on me about it. Better late than never, I say!
There are some resources out there for the different Antibiotics out there. I have a few around here somewhere. Dosing and best use info is required for self diagnosis and administration of meds. Best I can say is, If you're not sure, go see a doc. I had a Quack about do me in one time with Antibiotics. I had an ear infection that was pretty bad and he put me on some serious AB's that killed all the good bacteria in my guts. I was in the hospital at the end of the week dehydrated and lethargic. The attending doc asked where I got the meds so he could call the guy and tell him what happened. I guess he dosed me at 2x max. Crazy. The horse pills I was taking were a bit odd to me.
As a rule with any accident or health concern, seek professional help. The Urgent Care/After Hours Clinics/MedCheck's are less expensive than a visit to the ED, and usually faster. ($65 for the visit if uninsured at some and hours of 7am-11pm make it much easier to get in)
My dad is old school and growing up I've watched him sew his own hand back together on more than one occasion (you would think he'd learn). From being a parent, I've found that if there is no reasonable risk of infection that steri strips are very easy to close a wound once the seeping has stopped. Had one of the kids get bit by a dog a year ago and we took her to get checked out, the physician used steri strips just like I would have, but she benefited from a good antibiotic. We aren't in a SHTF scenario so it's time to get medical attention from professionals and then closely watch what they do and what they use and LEARN from them.
My dad is old school and growing up I've watched him sew his own hand back together on more than one occasion (you would think he'd learn). From being a parent, I've found that if there is no reasonable risk of infection that steri strips are very easy to close a wound once the seeping has stopped. Had one of the kids get bit by a dog a year ago and we took her to get checked out, the physician used steri strips just like I would have, but she benefited from a good antibiotic. We aren't in a SHTF scenario so it's time to get medical attention from professionals and then closely watch what they do and what they use and LEARN from them.
