Stitches - Removing stitches.....?

Removing stitches.....?

My four year old son cut his leg and got stiches, this was about a month ago. scince i am a nurse and now that he had to have the stiches he is terrified of the doctors, hospital and dentist so I figured even though I have never taken stiches out before but have taken thousands of staples out how hard can it be??? so my husband held him down and I went to work, but I dont think i got them all (they were clear and as fine as a hair). So now when i rub my finger over the scar I can feel some hard hair like things sticking out. What if I did leave some in there? Will it get infected or could his body attempt to push them out like it does with splinters sometimes? And dont yell at me for doing it myself, its not a huge procedure and tons of people do it thereself. I would NEVER do anything to harm my child..... Yes I used everything sterile, I got them from work. And I thought they were dissovable too but the doctor when he discharged him said to take him to get them removed at 7-10 days????

Public Comments

You said that the sutures were clear. Those are dissolving sutures. (most likely Monocryl) You do NOT take those out. They are meant to stay in there and become absorbed by the body on its own. This is what happens when people who think they know what they are doing....don't. Leave them alone. Your son should be alright since it has been a month now. The skin should have started to scar together. The left over pieces will be fine. Just let them dissolve on their own. I hope that you used sterile scissors to try to cut them out. You mentioned that you are a nurse. Just like you use a sterile staple remover, the same principle applies to stitches as well. EDIT... The doctor probably misspoke when telling you to come back in 7 to 10 days to get them removed. OR They used monocryl the wrong way. 3-0 and 4-0 Monocryl is an absorbable suture. It is clear for this reason. This way, there is no chance of "tatooing". Skin sutures that need to be removed after a period of time are made up of a non-absorbable material usually nylon or Polypropylene. These are colored sutures so you can see them. Nylon (Ethilon) is black and polypropylene (Prolene) is blue. (I am referring to the trusted-most widely used major supplier Ethicon in these instances.) Absorbable sutures are put in with a running subcutaneous stitch with the ends or knots buried. This means that you will not see the ends of the suture out of the skin. Non-absorbable sutures may be put in this fashion as well, but their ends will be sticking out of the skin so they can be grasped upon removal. It is more common to do what is called an interrupted stitch. (these are what people count when they say they got 10 or so stitches) Each stitch has it's own knot that is exposed and able to be grasped. Again, this would be a colored stitch. NOT CLEAR. There are other suture material that can be used for skin closure such as vicryl, but in that case, it would be an undyed vicryl which is absorbable, and is whitish in it's unused state. (it of course looks pink or red when you use it because of the blood that gets on it.) Clear suture is Monocryl (Ethicon Brand) , Biosyn (USS-DG Brand)---Both absorbable for skin sutures. EDIT... To Sara S...absorbable sutures may take months to dissolve. They are not meant to dissolve in 7-10 days. And choosing between absorbable or non-absorbable is more for the patient's benefit or not having to come back in to have them taken out and less scarring (no train track scar that you may get with the black nylon interrupted stitch.) If someone sees signs of infection, then of course, you go back to the doctor to have them look at it. That is a no brainer. Some people do "spit" sutures. It is the body's way of saying..."this is a foreign thing in here and I don't want it anymore." Your "sensitive area" obviously didn't like those sutures there and needed to be pulled. But for this person with her son, she didn't mention that something was wrong and that is why she took them out. She just went on what she heard the doctor say. I was just providing info on different types of suture and their uses. So shame on you for bashing when you obviously have no EDUCATION on this topic. Your bad experience is not the norm nor the EXPECTED outcome for this woman's son. I wouldn't recommend her digging around the incision site with a magnifying glass to try to pull up sutures when there is no sign of infection. Even if there were infection signs, she should take him to the doc...nurse or not.
I think answer 1 said it all. and i fully agree with their answer.
Those stiches have been in there for a whole month???I know the usaual time to have them removed is about a week. Are you sure you are feeling stiches?? I'm sure they have disolved already. Sheezzzz, you would think after a month they would have already came out by themselves...I would'nt worry about hurting your son in any way.I remember when I was a little girl, I had gotten stiches.. We were so damn poor.The dr. said the usaual, come back in 7 to 10 days and get them removed.I never went back and my mother never took em out, so I'm sure they fell out themselves. And I did'nt get an infection or anything so I am sure your little boy will be fine..............
1st of all i had "dissolvalble stiches in a very sensitive area that infact did not dissolve and i had to go have them removed to b4 you state that bull hsit about them being "ment" to be absorbed by the body that is false they are easier and less work for the dr but they still may need to be removed lol...but as for you hunny take a magnafiing glass and look as a nurse you should know that stitches that need to be removed will infact be a dark color..if they are white or clear they may have been dissovleable ones...your a nurse you know what to look for with infection redness swelling and bad smell any of those signs well them take him into the DR if he freaks out to much they will sedated him if you ask and he wont even remember....sometimes that has to happen children have crazy fears that arent always founded....but i think youdid just fine just watch it for a while