eis 25: learn to suture
Your skin does an awesome job of protecting you from all kinds of nasty stuff in the outside world. As our first line of defense against the scary *outside,* it’s also susceptible to getting damaged from time-to-time. It can’t protect us very well if it’s damaged. So, our skin has some pretty cool mechanisms to repair itself, as discussed in this video:
Sometimes, a wound needs a little help to close, though! In this activity, you’ll learn to suture like a pro.
materials
- Skin-on chicken wing, raw. We recommend the bone-in kind with both the upper part of the wing and the lower part of the wing on it, as these are also advised for your musculoskeletal system activity. Chicken wings provide a good feel for the actual texture of human skin, but, if you’d rather, you can also use a fruit with a thick rind and a soft inside, like an orange or banana.
- 2 Tweezers, forceps, clamps, or small pliers. A kelly clamp/mosquito forceps plus tweezers work best, but not everyone has these on hand (they can be easily purchased online or at most drug stores, though).
- Needle and thread or fish hook and fishing line. If you use a needle and thread, we recommend carefully using a pair of tweezers to bend the needle into a hook shape, but this is not required. If you have access to actual medical-grade sutures, that’s even better.
- Scissors.
- Sharp knife.
- A surface that you can easily clean, such as paper towels, newspaper, or a plate.
procedure
This video walks you through the process of creating a simple suture. We strongly recommend watching it, perhaps even a few times, prior to attempting your first suture.
1. Use your knife to cut a deep gash through the skin of your chicken wing or fruit. Set up at a comfortable workspace with all of your instruments, with the chicken wing/fruit on a surface that you can easily clean (such as paper towels, newspaper, or a plate).
2. Hold whatever you are using as your clamp tool (possibly tweezers, clamps, or small pliers) in your dominant hand. Using this instrument, clasp the center of your needle. To make this more realistic, you may also want to try keeping your thread within the “sterile field” (your clean surface)
3. Begin your first suture (for our purposes, it doesn’t matter whether you start your suture in the middle or on either end of the cut):
5. Cut the excess thread, leaving about ½–1 inch on either side of the knot.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 to make additional sutures until the wound is closed. Aim to make your sutures equally spaced about ¼-½ inch apart from each other.
If you’re having fun, or you’re proud of your work, we want to see it! If you have an Instagram and the permission of your relevant responsible adult, share with us @eons_learning, #SuturesEons.
2. Hold whatever you are using as your clamp tool (possibly tweezers, clamps, or small pliers) in your dominant hand. Using this instrument, clasp the center of your needle. To make this more realistic, you may also want to try keeping your thread within the “sterile field” (your clean surface)
3. Begin your first suture (for our purposes, it doesn’t matter whether you start your suture in the middle or on either end of the cut):
- Hold whatever you are using as your clasping tool (tweezers work best) in your non-dominant hand. Use this to grab onto the section of “tissue” (chicken wing or fruit) that you will be putting your needle through.
- Still holding the needle with your clamp, hook the needle through the tissue, a few millimeters (less than about half an inch) away from the edge of the cut, from the outside part of the cut to the inside part of the cut. You can do this by making a “J” motion with your wrist/forearm.
- Once the needle tip pops through the inside part of the cut, switch from pushing the needle through to pulling it through. Unclamp the needle from the side on the outside of the cut and reclamp it from the side on the inside of the cut.
- Pull the needle the rest of the way through the tissue, stopping when you have a few inches of thread left still dangling on the outside of the cut.
- Position the tissue clasping tool (tweezers) on the piece of tissue on the opposite side of the cut to where you just pulled the suture through.
- Push the tip of the needle through that section of tissue, this time starting on the inside of the cut and ending on the outside of the cut. Again, aim to have the tip of the needle come out a few millimeters away from the edge of the cut.
- Once the needle has gone through, again switch from pushing to pulling the needle through by repositioning your clamp.
- Continue pulling the needle through the tissue until you no longer have a long loop of thread inside of the cut. You don’t need to pull it tight just yet. Make sure that you don’t pull the dangling length of thread on the other side through the tissue, or you’ll have to redo the suture.
- Unclamp your clamp from the needle.
- Hold your clamp (closed) with the tip pointing up. Loop the base of the long end of thread (the side attached to the needle, rather than the short few inches on the other side) a few inches up the thread 2x around the clamp. The first loop should be below the second loop.
- With the loops still wrapped around your clamp, use the clamp to grab the few inches of thread dangling on the other side of the cut. You may wish to use your second tool to help with grabbing the end of the thread.
- Pull tight. You should notice a knot forming as you pull the end of thread through the loop you made with your clamp.
- Repeat this step 1-2 more times to at least double-knot, and preferably triple-knot, your suture.
5. Cut the excess thread, leaving about ½–1 inch on either side of the knot.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 to make additional sutures until the wound is closed. Aim to make your sutures equally spaced about ¼-½ inch apart from each other.
If you’re having fun, or you’re proud of your work, we want to see it! If you have an Instagram and the permission of your relevant responsible adult, share with us @eons_learning, #SuturesEons.