Calling for the help of graduate med students 
Hello! I’m a premed student, but today I bought a three piece suture set from my schools medical bookstore (I’m interested in learning some basics). It comes with a needle holder, scissors, and forceps. The woman working there seemed to assume I was already in graduate school, so I’m confused about some things!
First of all, my forceps have one large v notch in them. I’m not sure what it’s for, I assumed forceps were used to hold the skin during suturing, but these are very sharp. Does anyone know what that feature is for?
Second, what should I be using to practice on? I used orange peel to learn non continuous square knot ties today. But I hear banana peel is more realistic?
Also, I don’t have any curved needles. The suture kit just came with those three pieces, I don’t really know where to buy anything, I may just go purchase some curved sewing needles. Would that be as effective?
Thank you!
I don’t think my forceps are Adson forceps. I took a photo of them, this is a view from the top. They’re very plain besides this v notch. The woman selling them to me pointed this out in particular, giving the impression that it’s an important feature, and I was too shy to ask why! http://i43.tinypic.com/112bv4i.jpg
Another quick thing, I can’t quite figure out how to get my first knot to remain tight enough for when i close the second knot, so everything is too loose. Is there any trick for that?
I think it’s cool you’re willing to work on your suturing before you start. Most of my classmates were completely clueless when it came to suturing when we had to learn. My only caution is to make sure you learn the right technique as you will get yelled at by your preceptors if you do things in a weird way (e.g. never touch the suture with your hands; maintain your bite width and depth ratio). I put a link to a good NEJM suture video below and it shows the "textbook" way of doing a simple interrupted suture, the most common type and the only one you are really expected to know in med school.
1) Not sure what you mean by a v notch on the foceps (if you can comment with more i can try and answer). Do your supplies look like these (top three): http://www.medical-tools.com/shop/images/D/suture-kit.jpg . A set of Adson forceps is fairly sharp though; this helps you dig around a bit, as sometimes the tip of the suture can "get lost" coming out the other side so it can help. Also, since you need precise control of the suture at all times this shape helps.
2) I have heard a banana peel is pretty good to practice on (orange peel seems it would be too hard), but best thing to do would be to get a suture pad (unless you happen to have a spare cadaver or some pig skin to practice on). It’s what we use in med school to learn on and plus they aren’t too expensive. I put a link to a $25 one below.
3) I hadn’t really thought about using a curved sewing needle before (not much of a sewing buff), but the one I looked at on amazon, it does look virtually exactly like a suture needle. However, I’m not sure how big in diameter the metal is or how tough it is. Real suture needle are pretty sturdy and I’m not sure how much punishment a sewing needle can take. You can readily get practice suturing needles (aka non-sterile) pretty cheap though; put a link to one below ($1.85). I would use a silk thread as this is most commonly what real non-absorbable sutures are made from..
powered by Yahoo Answers
