Stitch me up bro

[CueDoc]

Has anyone ever had one of their buddies come over to suture a lac they had for various reasons? The other night my front steps had been drinking and when I tried to walk on them I fell down. They have a real drinking problem. Anyway a friend of mine came over the next day to put a couple of sutures in my elbow, We had all of the equipment but no lidocaine. I gotta tell you, it stung like a b****, however it doesn't warrant the banshee howling that these people do in the ED AFTER they get lidocaine. Anyone else got any war stories to share?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[dchristismi]

I stitched up husband after he nicked himself with the chainsaw a couple of summers ago. Didn't have any lido either, so I used ice until it blanched. Bit of proline later, and he was as good as new. He said it didn't hurt much because of the ice.

I make a point to keep lidocaine at home now.

 

[WilcoWorld]

I numbed, irrigated & sutured myself earlier this year. The lido stung, but - again - not nearly as much as certain 20 year old gang banger's squeals would imply.

Pardon the aside, but has EM made anyone else as annoyed by wimps as it has made me? When patients holler unnecessarily it makes me want to be LESS compassionate. Does this make me evil?

 

[StudentDoc327]

I numbed, irrigated & sutured myself earlier this year. The lido stung, but - again - not nearly as much as certain 20 year old gang banger's squeals would imply.

Pardon the aside, but has EM made anyone else as annoyed by wimps as it has made me? When patients holler unnecessarily it makes me want to be LESS compassionate. Does this make me evil?

The worst is when patients hollar and act like it's the end of the world when they are getting an IV put in... a 20g none the less. Makes me wish I would have used the 16.

 

[roja]

I got a paronychia and had a fellow EM person numb up the finger (flexor tendon digital block) and it wasn't that bad. Although I have to say, after having the injection site hurt for a couple of days (from that old 'hit the bone and then pull back) I don't use that technique.

My dad (ortho) cut his left thumb extensor tendon while gutting a deer. Decided to sew it up himself. I decided he won the manly man award with that one.

 

[deleted87716]

Cut my thumb wide open at an Eddie Bauer a few years ago while Christmas shopping with my wife. I just had to figure out how that nifty picnic utensil set opened up.

Anyway, I bled all over their floor, "borrowed" their employee bathroom to clean my hand up and apply a pressure dressing, and had my wife drive me to the local ED to get sewn up (it was Saturday, of course).

They sent a resident in to evaluate me. He looked greener than my wife's face at the sight of my blood all over the floor at Eddie Bauer. I figured, "What the hell...it's my left hand, I don't really use that thumb all that much anyway."

The digital block hurt...like...hell. Nothing after that, though. No tendon damage, fortunately. The sutures went in with no problem, although I had to keep moving my head to avoid getting the needle drivers in my eye (the resident...intern, actually...was very, um...focused.)

The attending came in (I'd actually worked with him when I was a med student), pretended to remember me, gave my thumb the once-over, and threw a prescription for Keflex at me, "just in case."

I later took the stitches out myself. I still have a small area of anesthesia around the scar. Not even a note from the Eddie Bauer folks. They were probably hoping that I wouldn't sue them.

The trip to the ED cost me $450, and I had a $500 deductible. At the end of the year. Merry Christmas.

 

[southerndoc]

I got facial sutures without lidocaine. It stung a bit when the needle went in, but it was tolerable. I would prefer pain from the needle on the 6-0 than the 27/25 g needle plus the burn of the lidocaine.

 

[El Cheba]

Before medicine I played junior hockey where it is expected of you to get your sutures without lido. I took a puck to the face after getting my helmet knocked off and needed stitches in my eye brow and nose. Eye brow, didnt hurt, swelled alot. The trainer, not a doc, that sewed me initially even used benzoin to keep my eye open so I could keep playing. Now the nose hurt like hell but it was broken too. I finished the game and then went to the ER to have it done better.

It seems I have lost my compassion for folks that act like we're performing amputations on them jwhen we are merely cleaning or numbing the area.

 

[Mary Jane Watson]

OK, so I didn't stitch up a lac, but last year, my classmate and I were going to our annual medical school ball (we call it "The Prom"), and just before we were about to leave, the strap on her dress popped. She started looking for the sewing kit, but couldn't find it. Jokingly, I said, "Man, if you had some suture, I could fix it up." Always prepared, she had a box of suture and needle drivers stashed over 4 years of medical school. Fifteen minutes later her dress was saved and we were on our way.

MJ

 

[kungfufishing]

absolutely lumberjack maryjane.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

he nicked himself with the chainsaw

Define "nicked"? I've never heard of anyone "nicking" themselves with a chainsaw before- at least not in the traditional sense of the word.

 

[DrMom]

A classmate of mine removed my toenail after I fractured my toe & partially dislodged the nail.

I've set my father's broken toes and sutured my daughter.

I got facial sutures without lidocaine. It stung a bit when the needle went in, but it was tolerable. I would prefer pain from the needle on the 6-0 than the 27/25 g needle plus the burn of the lidocaine.

I've had facial sutures without lidocaine twice, once when I was 7 (upper lip) and again in college (forehead). Not what I'd do for entertainment, but it certainly was tolerable.

 

[Hawkeye Kid]

when we were in costa rica last year, my buddy got kicked my a horse and has a deep 3cm lac on his leg. the local doctor used 0 PDS to close it. and yes, i said leg, not uterus or abdominal fascia. so we took the sutures out a week later so it could heal by secondary intention.

 

[FISKUS]

At a family outing - I hit my 22 y/o cousin in the head with an errent horseshoe throw. Nice 3 cm scalp lac. We were at least 70 miles from the closest hospital. I had him drink a few extra beers - irrigated it well with tap water and closed it with a surgical stapler I had for just such an occasion. Took the staples out a week later. Wound healed beautifully!

 

[Apollyon]

At a family outing - I hit my 22 y/o cousin in the head with an errent horseshoe throw. Nice 3 cm scalp lac. We were at least 70 miles from the closest hospital. I had him drink a few extra beers - irrigated it well with tap water and closed it with a surgical stapler I had for just such an occasion. Took the staples out a week later. Wound healed beautifully!

Sounds like a good plan. Ron Moscati up in Buffalo has done all sorts of work with tap water irrigation and showing how well it works. I guess that's one thing (among many others!) that millions of American mothers can back up!

 

[Febrifuge]

Hennepin did some research on that, as well. It seems that quantity is at least as important as what you're irrigating with. 3 liters of tap water > 500ml of sterile saline, and so on.

 

[Apollyon]

Hennepin did some research on that, as well. It seems that quantity is at least as important as what you're irrigating with. 3 liters of tap water > 500ml of sterile saline, and so on.

And pressure - >7PSI.

 

[FISKUS]

It actually wasnt from the tap - I used the garden hose with the sprayer attachment -better presure.

When dealing with wound irrigation:

The solution to polution is diluation

 

[Apollyon]

It actually wasnt from the tap - I used the garden hose with the sprayer attachment -better presure.

When dealing with wound irrigation:

The solution to polution is diluation

The solution to pollution is dilution. Just had to fix your grammar/spelling there.

You get the right idea, though - full marks!

 

[docB]

Right after residency I developed this axillary abscess. I had no insurance so I I&Dd it myself using the bathroom mirror. It was tough because it was my right axilla and I'm right handed. So with my left hand I numbed it up, opened it with an 11 blade, deloculated it and packed it. It sucked. I have no sympathy for shooter's with abscesses who howl throughout the whole thing.

 

[StudentDoc327]

Right after residency I developed this axillary abscess. I had no insurance so I I&Dd it myself using the bathroom mirror. It was tough because it was my right axilla and I'm right handed. So with my left hand I numbed it up, opened it with an 11 blade, deloculated it and packed it. It sucked. I have no sympathy for shooter's with abscesses who howl throughout the whole thing.

REspect

 

[TxMed]

Right after residency I developed this axillary abscess. I had no insurance so I I&Dd it myself using the bathroom mirror. It was tough because it was my right axilla and I'm right handed. So with my left hand I numbed it up, opened it with an 11 blade, deloculated it and packed it. It sucked. I have no sympathy for shooter's with abscesses who howl throughout the whole thing.

docB=somehow related to Chuck Norris

 

[docB]

docB=somehow related to Chuck Norris

docB = cried like infant throughout (but no one else heard it so it doesn't count )

 

[kungfufishing]

I had a run of abscesses about a year ago - like 6 of em in 4 months. Even cultured it, clinda resistant MRSA sensitive to doxy (cheap!).

After having a colleague I&D one, I decided it wasnt THAT bad and did the remainder at home, no lido. From the "damn that's stupid" file, I did the last 3 with my Leatherman, since replaced. No complications. I shower with one of those clorhexidine sponges after work now, and havent had a recurrence.

 

[docB]

I had a run of abscesses about a year ago - like 6 of em in 4 months. Even cultured it, clinda resistant MRSA sensitive to doxy (cheap!).

After having a colleague I&D one, I decided it wasnt THAT bad and did the remainder at home, no lido. From the "damn that's stupid" file, I did the last 3 with my Leatherman, since replaced. No complications. I shower with one of those clorhexidine sponges after work now, and havent had a recurrence.

That MRSA has probably colonized your nose. Try doing a course of the nasal bactroban ointment. It may save you from another outbreak.

 

[kungfufishing]

oh, i did. It worked.

 

[Chronic Student]

OK, this is really embarrasing to admit.

Here goes, I'm just one of those people who is really dangerous when I get bored.

So many moons ago when I was a scrub tech I used to man the OR on the weekends. They just needed a warm body to answer the phones and be there to open up a case if something came in through the ER.

Well, I had already been on shift for about 10 hours or so and had watched every movie and read every magazine we had. So I decide it would be cool to stitch myself up.

So I gathered up the stuff, prepped my leg with betadine, numbed it up with lido w epi and made an incision down into the subq.

I then put in three stitches with some 3-0 nylon. It healed beautifully.

You don't have to tell me I'm an idiot, that has been well documented many times. The moral of the story is that some people should not be bored. Ever.

-Mike

 

[da8s0859q]

OK, this is really embarrasing to admit.

Here goes, I'm just one of those people who is really dangerous when I get bored.

So many moons ago when I was a scrub tech I used to man the OR on the weekends. They just needed a warm body to answer the phones and be there to open up a case if something came in through the ER.

Well, I had already been on shift for about 10 hours or so and had watched every movie and read every magazine we had. So I decide it would be cool to stitch myself up.

So I gathered up the stuff, prepped my leg with betadine, numbed it up with lido w epi and made an incision down into the subq.

I then put in three stitches with some 3-0 nylon. It healed beautifully.

You don't have to tell me I'm an idiot, that has been well documented many times. The moral of the story is that some people should not be bored. Ever.

-Mike

First time I've ever heard someone doing something like that.

 

[docB]

First time I've ever heard someone doing something like that.

You haven't been around firefighters too much. Cutting youself and sewing it up is nothing compared to the things I've seen firefighters do. Everything from setting things on fire (It's TRAINING!) to choping up someone's actual car (It's old. I'll say it got stolen).

 

[DropkickMurphy]

I had him drink a few extra beers

Nice......

Right after residency I developed this axillary abscess. I had no insurance so I I&Dd it myself using the bathroom mirror. It was tough because it was my right axilla and I'm right handed. So with my left hand I numbed it up, opened it with an 11 blade, deloculated it and packed it. It sucked. I have no sympathy for shooter's with abscesses who howl throughout the whole thing.

Wow....I want to shake your hand. The most manly thing I've ever done along those lines was using a hemostat to dig a piece of a dog's tooth out of my hand after my girlfriend at the time's cocker spaniel chomped down on me. Its tooth broke off when I slammed it against the wall to make it let go. Needless to say, digging it out hurt worse than getting bit in the first place.