The closing of a surgical incision or a wound by sutures (stitches) to promote healing.
This may be done by means of a single stitch under the skin (subcuticular) or by using individual stitches (interrupted).
Some materials used in suturing, such as catgut, eventually dissolve in the body; skin sutures made of other materials are removed about 1–2 weeks after insertion.
The conduct of very intricate surgical operations using specially re?ned operating microscopes (see MICROSCOPE) and miniaturised precision instruments – for example, forceps, scalpels, scissors, etc. Microsurgery is used in previously inaccessible areas of the brain, eye, inner ear and spinal cord, as well as in the suturing of severed nerves and small blood vessels following traumatic injuries to the limbs or ?ngers. The technique is also used to reverse VASECTOMY.... microsurgery
A type of joint, found only between the bones of the skull, in which the adjacent bones are mobile during birth but then become so closely and firmly joined by a layer of connective tissue that movement between them is impossible. The term suture is also used to refer to a surgical stitch (see suturing).... suture
A binocular MICROSCOPE used for MICROSURGERY on, for example, the EYE and middle EAR; this microscope is also used for suturing nerves and blood vessels damaged or severed by trauma and for rejoining obstructed FALLOPIAN TUBES in the treatment of INFERTILITY in women.... operating microscope
n. a surgical instrument designed to compress a structure, such as a blood vessel or the intestine (see illustration). A variety of clamps have been designed for specific surgical procedures. Blood-vessel (atraumatic) clamps are used to stop bleeding from the cut vessels and are designed not to damage the arterial wall. Intestinal clamps prevent the intestinal contents from leaking into the abdominal cavity during operations on the intestines and are designed either not to damage the intestinal wall (noncrushing clamps) or to close the open end (crushing clamps) prior to excising and suturing the intestine to create an anastomosis.... clamp
n. 1. (in surgery) a strip of tissue dissected away from the underlying structures but left attached at one end so that it retains its blood and nerve supply in a *pedicle. The flap is then used to repair a defect in another part of the body by suturing its free end into the area. When the flap has ‘healed into’ its new site the other end can be detached and the remainder of the flap can be sewn in, depending on the type of flap being used. Flaps are commonly used by plastic surgeons in treating patients who have suffered severe skin and tissue loss after mutilating operations (e.g. mastectomy; see TRAM flap) or after burns or injuries not amenable to repair by split skin grafting (see skin graft). Skin flaps may also be used to cover the end of a bone in an amputated limb. In neurosurgery combined skin and bone (osteoplastic) flaps are commonly raised to provide access to the cranium. 2. (in dentistry) a piece of mucous membrane and periosteum attached by a broad base. It is lifted back to expose the underlying bone and enable a procedure such as surgical *extraction or *apicectomy to be performed. It is subsequently replaced and stabilized using sutures during the healing period.... flap
(vaginal vault suspension) suturing the uterosacral ligament (attaching the cervix to the sacrum) to the apex of the vagina, which is performed vaginally, laparoscopically, or abdominally to prevent or treat *vault prolapse following hysterectomy.... uterosacral suspension
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