Student Nurse's Guide to Staple and Suture Removal

When it comes to removing staples and sutures the surgeon or physician will write the orders for the nurse to follow on exactly what the physician or surgeon want for their patient. This will include, types of dressing to use, when to remove the sutures or staples, and any after care they will request, but there are basics of staple and suture removal all nurses should known.

The time of removal is based on the stage of healing, the extent of the surgery and the size and location of the wound. Sutures and staples are generally removed 7 to 10 days after surgery or even sooner if healing warrants the removal. The physician or surgeon will order if all staples and sutures are to be removed or if you will remove every other suture or staple and apply a Steri-Strip to the area as the first step to removal while the remaining will be removed in the second phase.

Sutures

Sutures are very fine threads of wire or other materials such as silk, cotton, steel, nylon or linen and they are used to sew together the tissues of the body. Sutures may be placed within tissue layers of deep wounds and superficially as a final means to close a wound. When sutures are placed deeper in tissue they are usually made of an absorbable material that will be absorbed by the body over several days.

Staples

Staples are made of stainless steel wire and are very quick to use when closing a wound. They are able to provide ample strength to a large wound or a very deep wound. Staples are very popular for abdominal type incisions and orthopedic surgery when the appearance of the incision is not critical as staples tend to leave larger scars. Removal of staples requires the use of a sterile staple extractor and the nurse or medical professional must maintain aseptic technique.

If a staple or suture is left in to long it makes removal much more difficult and increases the risk for infection and tissue damage. When removing staples and sutures the nurse must count all staples and suture before and after the removal this ensure that when the nurse is finished removing staples that all staples are accountable for and that non are left in the patient's body or have been lost.After the staples or sutures are removed the physician or surgeon may request that you apply Steri-Strips to the wound to keep it from separating. These Steri-Strips will fall off by themselves and a patient should be taught to leave them in place while going on with normal daily living, including showering