Continuous Suture Technique
A continuous or uninterrupted suture is defined as a kind of suture that is made with a single strand of suture material. Continuous sutures are one with a series of stitches but they are not individually knotted. They are typically used when the wound is in the visible region of the body and thus the stitches will not be readily apparent.
It is reported that some patients gave feedback for continuous sutures as extremely comfortable as it produces only very little pain during the healing process. Some of the medical procedures that make use of continuous sutures include:
- The repair of vaginal tearing after the childbirth
- Some plastic surgery operations like face or brow lift
Overview
The continuous suture is similar to the simple interrupted suture technique, but unlike simple interrupted sutures, knots are not tied at every stitch. Only the first and last stitches are fixed by knotting. It is easy to apply, frequently preferred suturing technique that provides eversion.
Initially, a simple interrupted stitch is placed at one end of the wound. This suture is knotted but not cut. Simple continuous sutures are placed over the length of the wound, re-penetrated the epidermis, and passed dermally or subcutaneously. It is important to place each stitch on equal distance in the simple continuous suture technique. The application is terminated by a single knot at the end of the suture line. If a wound is longer than can be easily closed by simple interrupted or interrupted horizontal mattress suture, a continuous suture technique can be used to perform the closure efficiently.
The most frequently used continuous suture technique is the non-locked suture technique. In this technique, the distance between the stitches is about 1 to 1.5 cm. When placing a non-locked continuous suture; it is useful to provide a slight tension on the placed suture loop while the next tissue transition is performed. This prevents the suture from loosening in the tissue when performing any additional sutures. The tension may be provided by the surgeon’s hand or by the assistant, not by the needle holder.
A continuous suture can also be locked. Continuous suture locking is accomplished by placing friction points along the length of the wound to reduce the tendency of the suture to loosen when placing the rest of the suture. Suturing is continued by passing through the previous stitch. Thus, the locked stitches help to hold the previously placed portions of the continuous suture tight as the operation is completed. Locking involves passing the suture through the previous suturing cycle.