Laceration repairs are one of th most common procedures I prep and provide distraction for during the summer months. This also happens to be one of the procedures I enjoy preparing kids for the most! This is what I have in my prep kit for sutures and how I use each piece.
1. Cyborg: He is my trusted sidekick for all my suture teachings, when age appropriate. I give Cyborg a pretend laceration in the same location as the patients so that we can do medical play and "fix" his cut like how the doctors will fix the patient's cut. This encourages kids to manipulate all the other medical materials in my kit in a non-threatening manner.
2. Sterile Towel: These are the same towels that the physicians use to set their sterile field during the laceration repair. I always talk to patients about how important it is that only the doctor touches these towels to make sure they stay germ free. This not only helps to make sure the sterile field is maintained, but is also for safety because sometimes the doctors will place sharps on the towels.
3. Tweezers: Lots of patients are familiar with this tool from seeing the smaller household version. I share with my patients that doctors use these tweezers to make sure their cut is clean wen there is debris from whatever caused the laceration. If it doesn't look like there is debris I tell the patients that the doctors use the tweezers to check their cut before they fix it.
4. Measuring Tape: This is a paper version of a ruler like kids use in school. I share with the patient how the doctor measures how big their cut is. Sometimes the doctors will take a picture of the cut with the measuring tape next to it so they don't forget the number.
5. Forceps: I call this string holders around the patients. When I am doing my preparation I make sure to demonstrate how they are different from scissors even though they look very similar. My go to explanation of their use is to mention how doctors fingers are too big to tie pretty bows, so they use string holders to help them. When I show these to patient I make sure to have the actual suture string with it, which I call string band-aids, so that the patient can manipulate the actual suture material.
6. Scissors: I don't generally show the scissors to kids until they are about 7/8years of age. I still mention them during all my preparations regardless so that the patient knows that the doctor is going to cut the string. I usually try to bring in a little humor here and show the patient how annoying it would be to have long strings handing from wherever their laceration is.
7. Gauze: I describe this as a soft cloth that doctors use to help clean cuts before and after string band-aids.
That's my preparation for a laceration repair. I also frequently use a syringe to show pt's how the doctors will clean their cut, this also means that kids get to have a small bit of fun with squirting water around the room. What kinds of things do you do during suture preps?
-K
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