Anyone used the Stapler?

Disposable Body Stapler kit

Thoughts? Experience?

in the ad they show an "arrow" wound, nicely stapled shut, on an unknown, unnamed part of someone's anatomy.

unless it were "only a flesh wound" - can an arrow wound only be a flesh wound? - i would hesitate to close ANY puncture wound unless irrigated with a lot more water than what you typically have to spare out in the woods.

and if you do carry such a thing what are chances the wound would be in a location that you could staple shut yourself? which now begs the question: if not you, who? trust them, do you?

for me, i'll stick with tincture of benzoin and steristrips. with a nice 4 x 4 + gauze wrap to protect, keep clean and absorb any further drainage.

Yeah. Me, too. Now, for my canine hiking buddy, where he have a hard time leaving steristrips and bandage alone, maybe. But he's gonna have to carry it in his pack.

Jeff
PS Are there really a lotta folks out there getting shot with arrows?

This is just to amazing a device to ignore! If someone buys it for me I'll try it out and report back my thoughts, though you may have to wait until Halloween...

-Blast

Not a lot of people getting shot, but a lot of bow hunters having clumsy moment and sticking or slicing themselves.

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Doh! I've seen a large number of people get shot with guns, but never one with an arrow, even though bow-hunting is popular 'round heah.

Jeff

I have been stapled a few times, but was sound asleep when the dr did it. I suspect that a staple would hurt a lot less than a stitch, done in the boonies. But I am not a big fan of closing a serious wound until it has been properly cleaned. Properly, not just washed out a little bit...

Nothing like closing in an infection, hmmm? I've seen that a few times, ugh! Like a lot of tools, staplers are fairly easy to use, but knowing when and when not to use them is the real trick.

Jeff

Widely used in ER's, mostly for scalp wounds cuz the scars are substantially larger than a good suture job-or on hockey players faces, where aesthetics are of no consequence. Simple, fool-proof, but not idiot resistant, still, if you scew up, you just take the staple out and try again...15 times. Surgeons practice suturing lacerations on raw chicken parts, so you could get 2 and practice. Closing the wound helps it heal faster, but the bleeding has to be controlled before wound closure-the anti-coagulated guy who wrote the product review may be disappointed when he tries it. Some docs will close a wound that is eight hours old, some won't, so if the ER is a few hours away, might be okay to wait.If the wound is closed over an infection, an abscess develops As noted above, best not to close arrow wounds, animal bites, or other punctures.

Note: do not attempt to remove skin staples with a standard office staple remover-the results are way worse than the original injury.

Before there were disposable skin staplers, there were
hog rings

These were used in similar applications on swine, wire cages, upholstery. The swine probably didn't like it, but swine are hard to read. Hog rings also played an important part in repairing prolapsed uterus in cattle, but we will save that story for another time.

I would be scared if someone showed up if i was hurt with that in their hand!!!

I have assisted ED docs when wounds were closed with the stapler, but none without the Lidocaine local having been administered. I can't imagine attempting to staple or suture a wound without some form of anesthetic being given, OUCH!!, especially on a child. Any thoughts?

One thought: You're right. It's likely to hurt like Hades. I was also wondering about it being for sale without an Rx.

I'm too lazy right now to do it right now, but any of our expert folks feel like writing a detailed post on exactly how to clean and dress various types of wounds "in the field," including using steri-strips for closure, if needed, for the benefit of the group, or maybe just dig up a good link?

Jeff

had one in my canoeing kit many years ago..had a real close
look at it one day and decided if i need something like that
i was in real trouble and saw it as a bad omen..so i left it home and use 4x4's and tape to close anything that nasty..
and Quickclot as a last resort..

I've used these in the ER and OR. It is easy to use, good closure BUT. This is wound closure, not recommended in the field. The wound needs to be meticulously cleaned first. It would hurt like Hades to use this without local anesthetic ( lidocaine). If you believe that girls like scars, you'll love this - prominent scar guaranteed each use. I keep some around to patch up pets and livestock, I use suture on the humans, usually after taking them to the ER, so I've got the stuff to do it right the first time. This would be good if you're way off the grid. or maybe combat situations, or if you really like scars.

+1 on that.

Anyone using this in the field on a wound that hasn't been properly cleansed is risking a nasty infection and the misery that goes with it. Selling this to the general public? I wonder what kind of legal disclaimers it comes with...

"...prominent scar guaranteed each use..."

Indeed they are. My stapled zippers are much neater looking than the sutured ones...

All right, someone asked for an official "how-to."

Scalp wounds in the ER don't usually get lidocaine. Why? Well, you use a needle to put in the lidocaine... so you're being stuck anyway. Just stick them with the staple and be done with it. Yeah, I hear it hurts. People tend to jump. Clean the wound copiously with clean water (some people use a little betadine swirled in, YMMV). Pull the edges together so that the parts match up (kind of like matching up puzzle pieces - the indent in the skin on one side matches to the extra skin on the other) Staple it closed. The middle of the stapler is the centerline for the staple.

For non-scalp wounds, we usually take tweezers, grab the skin, and actually evert it, so that when the staple is in place, the skin "falls" back into alighnment, with just a touch of the edge still rolled up (I hope this is making sense). Leaves less of a scar, and it's a 2-person job.

Probably OK to use in the field, provided: A) you irrigate the heck out of the wound, and there's no visible debris. At least 1/2 liter. More if it's bigger. B) You staple far apart, about 1cm between staples. This allows the skin to still be open between the stitches, allowing a route for pus and stuff to egress. Of course, you can also pull the staples and re=clean the wound if you really need to. But at that point, you can't re-staple it closed.

Hockey players don't get lido, wherever the lac is-lidocaine burns on injection, and we occasionally use hypodermic needle bigger than the suture needle. or it may be that the scar tissue of previous wounds is numb anyway.
MDinana's guide reflects state of teh art practice as I have seen it-nice job, MD-

Why would anyone be so anxious to close a wound that they would buy one of these, much less use it?

Ignorance + a new toy = Darwin Award.

Don't you visualize your buddy considering this a new toy to play with? ("Okay, Joe, I've got the first twenty-five in. Need anything else stapled? Joe? Joe?")

I don't want people who watch doctor shows on TV and think they've learning something doing anything fancy on me.

Clean it, wrap it, go to a doctor. Period.

And that goes for my dog, too.

Sue