Wiki conflict - How long to keep stitches?
There are two post-procedure care sections on the wiki and they have conflicting advice on aftercare for stitches. One says 3-5 days and the other is 5-10 days before removal. That's a wide spread. Do magnets have a longer "keep suture in" time than other implants? At this point what does experience and consensus of the knowledgeable group says is the best answer?
http://wiki.biohack.me/After_Care
"Stitches are a hard thing to give an exact timeline for. They can come out anywhere between 3-5 days later but this is problematic. The longer you leave them in, the larger chance of infection. The less time, the larger chance it'll rip open and you can lose the magnet. So about 4 days but judge it based on how you're healing. Keep the wound very clean and you should be fine."
http://wiki.biohack.me/Standard_Magnet_Implantation_Procedure
"By day five, if you've kept your incision clean and dry and haven't put any pressure on your wound, you could probably get away with removing the suture. My advice is to actually wait ten days if possible. Keep a close eye on the site. After day 5, tug on the suture a bit after irrigating it to make sure that the insertion sites are free of infection. If the suture sites begin to get red or if you see any exudate it's better to take the suture out."
http://wiki.biohack.me/After_Care
"Stitches are a hard thing to give an exact timeline for. They can come out anywhere between 3-5 days later but this is problematic. The longer you leave them in, the larger chance of infection. The less time, the larger chance it'll rip open and you can lose the magnet. So about 4 days but judge it based on how you're healing. Keep the wound very clean and you should be fine."
http://wiki.biohack.me/Standard_Magnet_Implantation_Procedure
"By day five, if you've kept your incision clean and dry and haven't put any pressure on your wound, you could probably get away with removing the suture. My advice is to actually wait ten days if possible. Keep a close eye on the site. After day 5, tug on the suture a bit after irrigating it to make sure that the insertion sites are free of infection. If the suture sites begin to get red or if you see any exudate it's better to take the suture out."
Comments
i'd also like to say that you should always use a suture when you implant a magnet. superglue is inferior in every way, dont waste your time. you're already slicing your finger open so just go with the suture.
As a suture 101, sutures are a variable form of wound mending. They are intended to be done on a sliding scale depending on wound depth, and in cases of trauma multiple levels of sutures can be used (aka - in modern times there can be subdermal levels of sutures using biodegradable materials as well as a transdermal layer that may or may not dissolve on it's own). While being an exceedingly old practice, they are also considered somewhat of an "art form" to place and implement properly. An improper suture is generally worse than no suture, and can cause long-term drawbacks. For anyone interested in fine motor control (let alone using a suture on a living organism), I strongly recommend practicing the technique. I haven't done a "real" one in years, and I'll still break out some junk cuts of meat for practice.
The duration that a non-dissoluble suture being left in is dependent on many factors: cleanliness of the original wound, depth of the wound, placement of the wound, aftercare of the wound, etc. For the given example of a fingertip implant, you are looking at the low end of the scale for duration. I'll say flat out that doctors will go on the high end of the scale because there is often no drawback other than cosmetic or irritation. A properly cared for suture on a finger is at the very low end of the scale, and is likely to only be lengthened by biological affinities.
While I wouldn't recommend that these be taken out after 3 days, 5 days should be plenty of time barring any complications. These should be readily apparent to anyone qualified to perform a suture on another human, and in a short version: the wound should be free of any irritation or healing stress on the seam itself and otherwise present as a superficial injury well under the process of healing without adhesive bandages.
As a usual disclaimer, I am not (quite) a doctor, all of this information is variable, please don't sue me.
Thanks everyone!
I'm more trying to think of applications where staples would be equal if not preferential to sutures... Certainly not fingers. Something pacemaker sized... why not. They're almost certainly not going to come out as cosmetically pleasing as well performed, cared for, and removed sutures; a general side effect is that it's going to be more irritating during the healing process and this could stay afterwards depending on how well (or not) they were used.
Also they're costlier than sutures and require more overhead in procurement, storage and sanitation. Worlds more expensive than a disposable suture kit, let alone anyone who spends a couple bucks on a used autoclave.
So I don't have any words against them, I just don't know why you'd really want to prefer them.