[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Clinical skills](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/) › Wounds and sutures

# Wounds and sutures

Assessing and cleaning a wound, local anaesthesia, materials, stitches, knots, staples, adhesives and splints.

12 pages

## Procedure

- [**Animal and human bites: clean, close or leave open** Bites carry mouth germs deep into the skin, so they are washed out thoroughly, often left open…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/animal-and-human-bites-clean-close-or-leave-open/)
- [**Assessing a wound: close it now, later or never?** Before stitching, the doctor checks how and when the cut happened, how dirty it is and what lies…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/assessing-a-wound-close-it-now-later-or-never/)
- [**Cleaning and irrigating a wound before closure** Washing a wound out with a steady stream of clean fluid removes dirt and germs, which is the…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/cleaning-and-irrigating-a-wound-before-closure/)
- [**Infiltrating local anaesthetic and digital blocks** A numbing medicine is injected around a wound or at the base of a finger so it can be cleaned…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/infiltrating-local-anaesthetic-and-digital-blocks/)
- [**Running and subcuticular stitches** One continuous thread closing a whole wound, either over the skin or hidden inside it for a neat…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/running-and-subcuticular-stitches/)
- [**Splints and the plaster backslab** A firm support moulded along part of a limb, not all the way round, that holds an injury still…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/splints-and-the-plaster-backslab/)
- [**Staples, adhesive strips and tissue adhesive** Quick ways to close simple cuts without stitches: metal staples, sticky paper strips or a skin…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/staples-adhesive-strips-and-tissue-adhesive/)
- [**Suture materials and needles: absorbable or not, sizes and choice** Stitches come in threads that dissolve or stay, in many thicknesses, on needles of different…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/suture-materials-and-needles-absorbable-or-not-sizes-and-choice/)
- [**The simple interrupted stitch** Single stitches, each tied and cut on its own, that hold the two edges of a cut together while…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/the-simple-interrupted-stitch/)
- [**Tying an instrument knot** Tying a secure knot with the needle holder instead of the fingers, quicker and using less thread](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/tying-an-instrument-knot/)
- [**Vertical and horizontal mattress stitches** Two-pass stitches that turn the wound edges up or spread the pull, used when a simple stitch is…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/vertical-and-horizontal-mattress-stitches/)

## Interpretation

- [**Tetanus prophylaxis after a wound: who needs what** After a cut, the doctor checks how dirty the wound is and how many tetanus shots the person has…](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/tetanus-prophylaxis-after-a-wound-who-needs-what/)

## A to Z

- [A](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/a/)
- [B](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/b/)
- [C](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/c/)
- [D](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/d/)
- [E](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/e/)
- [F](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/f/)
- [H](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/h/)
- [I](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/i/)
- [L](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/l/)
- [N](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/n/)
- [O](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/o/)
- [P](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/p/)
- [R](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/r/)
- [S](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/s/)
- [T](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/t/)
- [U](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/u/)
- [V](https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/a-z/v/)

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Educational content; it does not replace supervised hands-on training, your institution's protocols or a prescriber's order. A procedure is learnt with a teacher and done only once you are trained to do it.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/areas/wounds/
License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/clinical-skills/areas/wounds/