Staples vs. Sutures

Renee H.
on 5/13/09 12:42 am - Bronx, NY

I have often thought about the pros and cons of this. Different surgeons feel different ways about staples vs. sutures and glue vs. strips, etc.

I know of folks who have had great work done but the look of it was compromised by the evidence of staple marks. I have also seen folks whose incisions look less than great because their surgeons just didn't have the best "sewing" technique.

Personally, (no offense to anyone), I don't like staples. At all. I know in certain situations, they are necessary. I have been told that when a surgeon really needs to hold challenging tissue in place that staples are necessary but some use them as a temporary "hold" so that they can THEN do their suturing.

My PS prefers to use sutures whenever possible. He says that although he could save a lot of time by stapling, he believes that the time taken to do several rows of small sutures gives an aesthetically more pleasing effect and isn't a plastic surgeon in the practice of aesthetics???

*shrug*

I know that with glue vs. strips, I have had both. The glue ****** me off because it really does act like Crazy Glue. I also think that I had an resident that was glue-happy and must have glued my whole upper body shut after my UBL and I was like DAMN - will this stuff EVER come off? I am not allergic to the steri-strips but I do see there are certain areas where the skin is thinner and more delicate and the strips can cause blisters or bruising in sensitive areas. What my surgeon did find, when the glue didn't hold my arm together, is that if he put the steri-strips LENGTHWISE down the incision - instead of ACROSS the incision - it seemed to hold better and not put so much tension on the surrounding skin.

What methods does your surgeon use and why? What has been your experience with sutures, stitches, glue and strips?

Renee H. aka "Queen Nae"
RNY - 8/04 - Alfons Pomp - NYC
LBL - 4/07 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC
Revision to anchor cut - 12/07 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC
UBL w/brachio - 2/09 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC

Redhaired
on 5/13/09 2:06 am - Mouseville, FL

DS on 07/13/06

I have had a little of it all with my various surgeries. I, too am not real fond of staples, but I trust my surgeon to use the method that is best for the type of wound. I trust that he wants it to be pretty too, so I am confident in trusting his judgement.

Red

Lynne R.
on 5/13/09 2:54 am - Houston, TX

RNY on 02/21/05

I doubt a plastic surgeon would use staples. Sutures leave a much thinner scar.

I can say that when I had my gallbladder out, after having plastics, that those staples were the most painful thing about my surgery (they had to do it open.)

Lynne

Renee H.
on 5/13/09 6:14 am - Bronx, NY

RNY on 08/19/04

That's the whole thing, Lynne. Some plastic surgeons do use staples. And not all the time I agree with their reasoning for doing so. I know a woman who was formerly around 280 lbs. For her height and frame, she was big but not extremely so. She lost 120 lbs. with surgery and had an LBL, breast lift and arms. So her arms and breasts look ok but her surgeon made her look like she has a railroad track around her lower body. She is flat and tight but that scar is ridiculous and he did NOT have to staple her to keep her closed. That could definitely have been done with sutures. I just thought it was pure laziness on his part. He is one that likes to state how many surgeries he does in a given day and I see why.

Renee H. aka "Queen Nae"
RNY - 8/04 - Alfons Pomp - NYC
LBL - 4/07 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC
Revision to anchor cut - 12/07 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC
UBL w/brachio - 2/09 - Thomas P. Sterry - NYC

MelissaF
on 5/13/09 3:31 am - Northwood, IA

RNY on 12/04/06

My doc does 3 separate layers of sutures all internal and no glue. I can't imagine the time it takes but the results speak for themselves.... I am with you, no staples.

Hugs, Melissa

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=6166c1bf498224d5a8b93e&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

RNY- 12/04/06 with Dr. Matt Glasock
LBL - 4/28/09 with Dr. Rene Recinos

happy girl
on 5/13/09 1:55 pm

my PS does 3 layers of sutures too

2003 RNY, 2007 Revision Distal RNY
April 17, 2009 ~ fleur de lis TT w/Muscle Repair, Medial Thigh Lift, Ventral Hernia Repair

cleos_mom
on 5/13/09 3:37 am - phila., PA

RNY on 06/18/07

my PS doesn't use staples .the first surgery I had with him was my abdominoplasty and my incision turned out so beautiful that on my 10 day post-op visit I jnew I wanted him to do my legs. he just did a butt & back lift and inner thigh . check out my pix and you can see my incisions when I came home they looked good. I have seen some peoples incision & there skin looked like a piece of meat tied up if I had to be stapled I wouldn't have had plastics.I did have steri strips for all my surgeries and he did put the steristrips lengthwise and after your first post-op visit he lets you shower every day so then it loosens the steri-strips and they fall off before your next visit
I never had the glue, my husband did with his triple heart bypass and it was fine

Kelly V.
on 5/13/09 7:20 am - Galion, OH

I had an open RNY and he used multiple suture lines and left me open but connected with steri strips. I was like WTF my insides are going to fall out. You couldn't even see the scar. It was almost invisible.

Then I was opened for a bowel obstruction and he used staples. The incision is wider for some reason and even though it is white you can still see it.

My plastic surgeon (the one who did my total body lift) did multiple suture lines and then glue. My scars are so thin.

The plastic surgeon (who did my arms) used tape and because he told me to take the tape off and leave it off I have huge scars down my arms. My current plastic surgeon looked at my arms and was disgusted so he is doing a revision. I hope the scars on my arms come out like the ones on my thighs. Those are so thin and perfect.

MyQnA
on 5/13/09 4:33 pm

RNY on 05/15/07

I have never had staples, thank God. I just can't imagine that they would look good. My bariactric surgeon used sutures and when they were removed it was no issue but I did have a reaction tot he strips he put over them. My plastic surgeon used dis-solvable sutures so there will be no removing however he also put something over them which I think is the same as the strips and yes I had blisters and leaking and it was a nightmare for me but, no real medical issue. The long and the short give me dissoluble and paper tape and I will be a happy camper.

~Maxine

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

BigV
on 5/14/09 12:48 am - UK

I have had staples for all my surgeries so far.   I can identify with the 'railroad tracks' appearance.

I guess it is a compromise really. From what I have been told staples are much quicker and stronger too.

I have mixed feelings about my scars, I feel they could be neater and less visible if it were not for the dotting effect of the stapes after removal.

Then again I am aware that I would not have been able to have had as much excess skin removed if it had all of been sutured; time is money as they say.

Also, my experience has been of generally suffering from hypertrophic scars, scar stretching and I have even managed to split a couple of my wounds open and had to be re-sutured - So my biggest fear would be that sutures would not hold me together long enough; as I did have some sutures on one of my surgeries, and they just 'cheese wired' their way through the skin, leaving me with a big gaping hole which had to be stapeled closed.

I do feel that the main reason for using staples in a time saving thing though - hence they get used more often for emergency repairs rather than plastics.

Staples vs. Sutures

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Staples vs. Sutures