Closing Stitching

[OldmrWilson]

Hi. Shooting for Mid-May around the 15-16th or so for my valve replacement and double bypass. I have chosen the Edwards Bovine Intuity.
Question.... Do they close you up with that piano wire like they did back in '75? I seem to remember Mom having something like that.
I talked to a man the other day and he said they used glue totally on him for his bypass only. His scar looked very nice (for a scar) at
6 months. My neighbor had her op a month ago and from what I could see hers was same. No wire, no staples (I guess).
Is this normal nowadays or should I ask my Doc? Any and all replies welcome. Thank y'all !!! Wilson

 

[pellicle]

Hi

...
I talked to a man the other day and he said they used glue totally on him for his bypass only. His scar looked very nice (for a scar) at 6 months. My neighbor had her op a month ago and from what I could see hers was same. No wire, no staples (I guess). Is this normal nowadays or should I ask my Doc? Any and all replies welcome. Thank y'all !!! Wilson

my understanding is that its still new and there are those (surgeons) who are keen to try it and those who are "waiting to see" the long term effects

I've had 3 OHS over the time and always had the wires, and had no problems with sternum healing.

 

[epstns]

I think we need to be sure what you're asking about, as you mention several things.

Are you asking if they use glue to hold the sternum together after opening for surgery? If that is the questions, pellicle may know, as he has studied sternal issues quite extensively.

If you are asking if they use glue to close the external incision, the answer is that some surgeons/hospitals do, some do not. Over the last 5 years or so, I have heard mention of patients having traditional suture closure, staples and the surgical equivalent of crazy glue. My own external incision was closed with the surgical glue 7 years ago, so it isn't new. It just depends upon whether the surgeon is comfortable and experienced with it. I asked my surgeon. He said that they would use the glue if I wish, otherwise . . . I'm not sure if they would have used sutures or staples. If you have the choice, the glue was truly effortless. No removal anxiety. It just eventually just flakes off, and seems to minimize scarring.

 

[almost_hectic]

My sternum was held closed with wires, four of them. My chest incision was closed with surgical glue only, no traditional stitches. My scar is very well healed, if you werent looking for it you might even miss it.

 

[OldmrWilson]

Thank you all so much, Wilson

 

[Agian]

Thank you all so much, Wilson

 

[pellicle]

yeah, I was going to observe earlier that back when I had my "first infection dig" I had a black bag which ran the VAC pump which I called Wilson.

of course it wasn't long before I had a second "Wilson" in the collection

happily that's all (mostly) history now ...

 

[Agian]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHtgKIFoQfE

 

[OldmrWilson]

Uh, I kinda go back to the 50's and 60's version. Thanks anyway.

 

[Agian]

Uh, I kinda go back to the 50's and 60's version. Thanks anyway.

Don't mind me, I was always the class clown.

The other option for closing the sternum is with Talons. They lock it in place. I asked my surgeon about this, and he told me they were bulky. Piano wire is standard.

The wound closure is cosmetic. They used dissolvable stitches and stitched under the skin, on me, so all you could see was a red line. The scarring is the body's healing process and has little to do with the stitches.

 

[Superman]

Dennis the Menace reference?

Pretty sure I was held together with slinkies and chewing gum both times. Or was it wires and stitches?

Definitely the latter. Still feel rather prominent wires in there. I had dissolving stitches. Never had to have them removed. I think some folks are just genetically predisposed to nasty scars. I wasn’t blessed with a nice invisible zipper. It’s about a quarter inch wide after 8.5 years out and I can still see my original scar from 27.5 years ago underneath it.

 

[Agian]

Bone adhesive

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23684075

Talons