Surgical instruments, sutures and suturing techniques

Abstract

Anthropological studies suggest that prehistoric man used various techniques to close skin wounds (Ellis, 2001). The jaws of termites or beetles were used to bite across wounds and hold skin edges together in India and South America, and in East Africa acacia thorns were stuck along the two wound edges and then plaited together (Ellis, 2001). Suture materials used included horsehair, fibres from tree bark, cotton and, in ancient Rome, human hair and catgut (made from sheep's intestine) (Burnand and Young, 1998), which was used until recently in the UK. The sutures used in modern surgical practice are almost exclusively synthetic materials.