Silly Post Surgery Poll

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

What do people prefer: Staples or Sutures with super glue?


Doctors say:

Staples will allow any drainage to seep through, will heal just fine

Staples you get to see the Doctor again

Sutures will seal up and any drainage could be absorbed back, overage could be addressed IF it happens

Sutures will dissolve and you may not get to see the Doctor again

Girls LOVE scars (Female Surgeon)


Either way I could get to expose myself over the internet for tel-medicine purposes


I wonder:

Will Staples will get caught on clothing

Will Staples cause pinching

Sutures do get caught on clothing and pulled a bit

Sutures have never pinched me (but my Wife does)

Girls DO like scars (well, not so much wonder here) (Wife does not wish for me to show scars down there)


Medically, Doctors are telling me it is my choice, nothing right or wrong.

Sooooo, what do people with experience think?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Wife just begged me to confirm that NO ONE knows she is married to me! Thank you, thank you very much!

[GH85Carrera]

For my hip replacement I had lots of stitches along the incision on the side of my body right at the hip of course. To show it to anyone I have to pretty much drop trousers, and moon them. So far they all just run screaming, so I have to report ladies don't really like scars.

[javadog]

I was never given a choice.

Wasn't a huge fan of the staple removal process.

[white85carrera]

1990 I was 26 with 72 staples up the front. the ones on the belt line were bothersome and for some reason, I was convinced I could "pop" out the irritated ones myself. learned the hard way you cant.

[stevej37]

about 3 years ago..my femur was busted up in a bike/car accident.
After the Dr. hammered in a 16" titanium rod, they used sutures.
I can only see one small dot where they opened it up to get at the hip bone.
It's amazing how much they can stretch your skin.

[masraum]

I've never had anything but sutures, and I don't think I've ever had more than <10 at once. Sutures are easy, and I've removed them myself.

I recently looked up staples because my mom was having some due to hip replacement. I found a couple of videos on youtube that show the process. It does take a special tool because it bends the staples backwards/open. The go in kind of like hogrings (think car upholstery). To get them out requires a 3 pronged pair of "pliers" that opens the staple (hogring) up. It didn't look like it should be that uncomfortable, but probably a little more so than sutures.

[Willem Fick]

I had 72 staples across my hairline following some pretty invasive surgery years ago. Other than that stitches and later sutures only. The only downside to the staples AFAIC is that some of them sort-of got stuck, and it was quite painful to pull those out. I wore baseball caps for some time to hide the wounds post-op, as they looked rather grisly, and can say they never one caught on anything, nor did they cause pinching of any sort.

Funny story about the baseball caps as an aside;

I was at university at the time and one of my lecturers took exception to me wearing a cap in his class. He ordered me to take it off, but as soon as he was confronted by the nastiness it was hiding he apologized profusely and had me put it right back on.

[SiberianDVM]

I was trained to use sutures first, then staples later, as back then they were considered expensive for veterinary use. Skin thickness in animals varies widely and that determines a lot of usage. Staples are 100x faster to apply, and somewhat painful to remove.

I once removed an inflamed mole on my leg, when I didn't have time to go to a GP, then surgeon, blah, blah, using a local anesthetic, a clamp, scapel, and staples. Healed up fine with no scar.

[Starless]

Originally Posted by javadog

I was never given a choice.

Wasn't a huge fan of the staple removal process.

Agree 100%!!!!!
Dec. 2018 ended up in the ER wicked stomach pain. CT Scan, bowel obstruction. Rushed into the operating room. Last thing i remember was the Dr telling me they would have to remove some of my intestines, if there was enough left they would just attach them together, if not......a bag.
Woke up ( no bag) but about 12 in. of staples. Spent a week in the hospital. Couldn't leave until I pooped. About a week later went to the Dr to have the staples removed. That was the worse part of the entire ordeal. If I had the choice, it would be sutures no doubt. None.

[MaxVon]

2012 had my carotid artery blocked 98%. Lost vision in the left eye on and off.
The doc super glued me and it's pretty hard to see now as I've gotten older and it blends into my natural wrinkles. Still hurts like hell.

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads26

[MaxVon]

Looks better now....

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Willem,

Awesome story! I love the aside, great reading! I almost cut my middle finger off. Big white bandage. Instructors were rather upset, the other teenagers kept asking me which finger got hurt. Great fun, for a time.


Max,

Very good looking scar! Handsome even!


I had already leaned into stitches. Wife asked if the surgeon could do liposuction, you know, as long as you are there anyway.... better aerodynamics, maybe more horsepower??? Surgeon, young enough to be my daughter, without skipping a beat and while poking around down there so to speak retorted: Oh no, he looks great! I wouldn't change a thing. Nurse: Well, we could add a few...down there. Doctor: Yes, well I mean compared to most of my patients. Great times in the doctor's office!

[NY65912]

A couple of stiches and glue. The aftermath of cervical surgery. You can't even see a scar now.