After surgeries or while treating certain wounds, doctors and surgeons must stitch a patient's skin or internal tissues back together to help them heal. This process is known as suturing. While suturing in necessary to help the healing process, suture errors can produce deep, disfiguring scars and other complications.
Suturing Mistakes
After an operation or to treat a would, doctors may use two different types of sutures:
- Absorbable. These sutures are for internal tissues and organs and are absorbed by the body over time.
- Non-absorbable. These sutures are for external wounds as well as serious internal cuts, such as for damage to the heart or the bladder. The body must be re-opened to remove these sutures at a later date.
How Scars Form
Scarring is a natural healing reaction to wounds and injury. A scar is formed when the body experiences prolonged inflammation and the over-proliferation of fibroblasts and as a result, over-produces collagen. Scars differ depending on a variety of factors, including the age of the injured person, the type of injury, and the location on the body. The extent of the initial damage is usually an indicator of how extensive the scar will be.
Abnormal Scar Types
Many different types of abnormal scars can form after an injury:
- Hypertrophic. These scars usually form as red raised lumps on the skin. They occur when the body overproduces collagen.
- Keloid. These scars are similar to hypertrophic scars, but are more serious because they can continue to grow into large, benign tumors. They can be caused by accidents, surgery, acne, body piercings, or may even form spontaneously in some people.
- Atrophic. These types of scars appear as sunken pits or recesses in the skin. They are often caused by acne, diseases such as chickenpox, accidents, or surgery.
- Stretch marks. These can be caused when skin is rapidly stretched during pregnancy, significant weight gain or loss, growth spurts, or as skin heals.
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Source by David S Caldwell