punta

Just had mine fall out last night (dental surgery) and started wondering.

Figured they were some kind of nifty, biodegradable plastic but the doctor kept calling it "gut".

Did medicine take a step back? Have I have been tonguing Fluffy or Bossy intestines all week?

Azathoth

Some are some aren't.If he told you that it was gut,than it probably was.I guess there's no reason to change it,if it works well.There are biodegradable polymers,too,however.

Interesting subject.I got curious after you asked the question.Here's a site that has suture information.

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~jafield/Sutures.html

punta

wow. Thankyou for the info.

I can't help wondering how many vegans out there are merrily munching on some animals intestines because they figure they are all synthetic.

trunks2k

You think that frightens you? My mom used to work in an emergency room as a nurse, she said the hospital used leeches on occasion. I don't exactly remember what they were used for. IIRC they were used to help stop bleeding, or something of that sort.

Yggdrasill

I'm fairly sure they use leeches when they reattach fingers. Blood accumulates in the fingers, because they are able to fix the larger blood vessels, but are unable to fix the smaller capillaries that in a normal finger would drain away blood. They use the leeches to remove excess blood while the capillaries heal.

trunks2k

Yeah something like that, it also has something to do with the enzymes the leeches secrete, it works to stop infection or something.

Pyrrho

When reattaching a finger, there is often a problem with blood clotting, which can lead to an insufficient amount of blood flowing to the finger, which may cause the finger to die (or, if the clotting is not that bad, it may slow down the healing process). Leeches secrete a substance (or substances) that prevents clotting; otherwise, they would not be able to feed for long when they attach themselves to a host.

By all means, do a search of the Internet for more on this subject.

"The leech's saliva contains substances that anaesthetise the wound area, dilate the blood vessels to increase blood flow, and prevent the blood from clotting."

At:

http://www.biopharm-leeches.com/home.html

KoopaFanatic

Heck, they use maggots sometimes to clear out necrotic tissue. It's what they eat, so they're better at it than we are.

(Which just leads me to wonder... Are medical leeches and maggots delivered in little sealed sterile pouches like thermometers and syringes? )

NialScorva

Are they autoclaved, too?

Non-praying Mantis

IIRC, medicinal maggots are grown in sterile conditions. They are placed on/in wounds to eat dead tissue. They leave the living tissue alone, that's why they are used.

NPM