Originally Posted By: hiker1
The trouble is, the variety of suture to match with the injury runs into the hundreds of varieties. There is a vast difference between the suture I would use on the bottom of a foot versus the face on a young lady, or to resolve deep wounds with a chromic suture. And there is a vast variety of suture thickness, flexibility, braided, non-braided, nylon, silk, etc. along with a vast variety of needle sizes and styles. There is also a variety of suturing techniques depending on the nature of the wound: soft tissue injury, muscle damage, tendon damage, vascular and nerve damage, etc.


All very, very good points. My first post was aimed more at the superficial lacs that need only simple interrupted sutures. Getting beyond the fascial plane, and field suturing is going to be an extremely poor idea.

I've got a kit personally, and about 2 dozen sutures (from 2-0 to 6-0, vicryl, prolene, gut and silk). I don't even take it with me on backpacking trips, and I'm "trained" to do it. I guess that shows how great an idea it is!

Remember everyone, wounds WILL heal even without sutures. It takes time and may leave an ugly scar, but it's safer than closing a contaminated wound.