Technological Advances In The Medical Field
With technology steadily advancing, the way we do things change all the time. In the medical field, tools and procedures have developed, making health care easier and more effective. Even the smallest things such as stitches are so important in daily medical occupations that they have developed to make them more successful and practical. In the past, stitches were as simple as a needle and thread but today it is much more than that for the benefit of the patient.
Stitches in the past may have gotten the job done, but they had a few complications. Infection was a major issue with medical procedures of the past due to not having certain medications and many of the instruments that we have today. In 30,000 BC the first ever eyed needles were invented. They were used for surgeries and to tie wounds together through the use of sutures. Sutures at the time were made out of regular string, but in 1600 BC a Greek surgeon Galen of Pergamon, began to use silk and catgut.
Catgut is the intestines of sheep and horses twisted together to make a fine string. He would use it to suture together the severed tendons of the gladiators. This type of thread was used for injuries well into the 20th century. In 150 AD the Egyptians made their first reference to sutures to treat a shoulder, “Thou shouldn’t draw together for him his gash with stitching”. It is believed that they used the same technique of the Greeks in 1600 BC.
Antiseptic surgery was first introduced in 1876 by British surgeon, Joseph Lister. He came up with new ideas for surgical procedures such as cleaning instruments in between each use. He also said that we should change dressings patient to patient. This was a big step in medical history because it cut way down on infections which saves a lot of lives. By 1887 the first mass produced sterile were invented by Johnson & Johnson. This company was the main one coming out with new things. In this time they began to mass produce cotton dressings and gauze. After these major improvements patient survival rates went up tremendously.
Mersutures are an eyeless needle with a single string attached through the butt of the needle. Mersutures, created in the 1920’s, made it easier for the sutures to pass through the skin and resulted in reduced tissue damage. Ethnicon took this idea in 1960 and created a sterilized version of it by bombarding them with radiation once in final packaging to ensured that bacteria stayed out and off of the needle until time to use it. 1969 was a big start off for new technology and improvements in the medical field.
Synthetic sterile sutures were invented and were made of polymer and polypropylene which is still the most used today in cardiac bypass surgery. Every few years renovations were made to this product to make it better for the patient. In 1974 a version of it was created where the string was braided and it naturally absorbed into the skin, in 1979 the string was coated to make it safer and easier to tie off knots, and in 2003 the coating had become antibacterial.
By the time 2011 rolled around, stainless steel needles had been replaced with the world’s strongest alloys. The new needles became designed with an anchor which is made to bring tissue together as the thread comes through rather than the risk of tearing tissue when pulling the skin together. Present day stitches are completely different from most of the sutures of the past. Today we have absorbable sutures and non-absorbable sutures. Absorbable sutures include gut sutures for injuries that need minimal support, Vicryl sutures best for the lower layers of the skin or approximating muscle or fatty tissue, maxon and monocryl sutures for soft tissue approximation, and PDS for muscle and fascia tissue. There are three types of non-absorbable sutures.
A prolene suture is for the tissue of fascia, muscle, or blood vessels. Nylon sutures are best for the closure of skin such as surgical incisions or drainage tubes. Silk sutures are used to tie off blood vessels or bowel segments. Non-absorbable sutures are mainly used for major procedures where the stitches have to stay in for a certain amount of time. Absorbable sutures are for more minor procedures where the stitches are absorbed into the skin rather than taken out. Ethnicon plans to come out with a “reusable larascopic suturing device”. This device will allow surgeons to wield a new innovation all across the country. Technological advances have lead to new inventions in the medical field to be better for patients to ensure they have a better chance of survival.
