suture

suture

1. Surgery

a. catgut, silk thread, or wire used to stitch together two bodily surfaces

b. the surgical seam formed after joining two surfaces

2. Anatomy a type of immovable joint, esp between the bones of the skull (cranial suture)

3. Zoology a line of junction in a mollusc shell, esp the line between adjacent chambers of a nautiloid shell

4. Botany a line marking the point of dehiscence in a seed pod or capsule

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Suture

 

the surgical uniting, chiefly by a surgical needle and suture material, of tissues cut during surgery or separated by an injury. Threads made of silk, linen, or Dacron and other polymeric materials are used in superficial sutures. In buried sutures, which are applied to internal organs and tissues, absorbable materials, such as catgut or biologically inert polymeric threads, are used; buried sutures are not removed.

One type of superficial suture, cosmetic suture, which is applied to the face, is made using threads of horsehair or thin ca-pron. Osteorrhaphy (osteosynthesis) is a type of buried suture. Primary, primo-secondary, and secondary sutures are distinguished on the basis of when the sutures are applied, which depends on the type of wound. The sutureless union of tissues is achieved with various adhesives made from polymeric materials (for example, cyanoacrylate) or with metal clamps.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

suture

[′sü·chər]

(biology)

A distinguishable line of union between two closely united parts.

(medicine)

A fine thread used to close a wound or surgical incision.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.