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Suture Information
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Sutures are the stitches that doctors, and especially surgeons, use to hold skin, internal organs, blood vessels and all other tissues of the human body together, after they have been severed by injury or surgery. They must be strong (so they do not break), non-toxic and hypoallergenic (to avoid adverse reactions in the body), and flexible (so they can be tied and knotted easily). In addition, they must lack the so called "wick effect", which means that sutures must not allow fluids to penetrate the body through them from outside, which could easily cause infections. Sutures have to comply with several regulations and guidelines such as United States Pharmacopeia and the FDA to ensure they meet the necessary requirements.
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Suture Sizes
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Suture sizes are defined by the United States Pharmacopeia (U.S.P.). Sutures were originally manufactured ranging in size from #1 to #6, with #1 being the smallest. A #4 suture would be roughly the diameter of a tennis racquet string. The manufacturing techniques, derived at the beginning from the production of musical strings, did not allow thinner diameters. As the procedures improved, #0 was added to the suture diameters, and later, thinner and thinner threads were manufactured, which were identified as #00 (#2-0 or #2/0) to #000000 (#6-0 or #6/0).
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United States Pharmacopeia
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The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) was established in 1937 for standardization of suture materials and is the official public standards authority for other healthcare products designed, manufactured and sold in the United States. USP sets standards for the design and quality of medical products and works with healthcare providers to help them reach the standards. USP's standards are also used overseas in more than 120 countries. These standards have been helping to ensure good pharmaceutical care throughout the world for more than 185 years. |
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