Staple Vs Stitches

[RobinM]

What are the thoughts of stapling a dogs face for a wound the size of a quarter, near the ear rather than putting in a few stitches? Greyhound bit by another dog (rabies free), greyhound brought to ER vet. They wanted to close with 2-3 staples and E collar. Owner declined. Waited until vet opened at 8AM, brought greyhound in, had stitches done with local and dog was good to go in literally 10 minutes.

 

What is your take on staples?

Edited July 29, 2011 by RobinM

[Houndtime]

Sometimes staples go better in some places that stitches would be difficult. Years back, Brandy had staples in the back of her leg, with stitches probably wouldn't have held.

 

Staples go in really fast too.

[Jackandgrey]

Interesting question Robin, I would lean toward sutures for a face but don't have any personal knowledge about the issue in greyhounds. Only in people.

[PatricksMom]

I've had vets use both for different injuries. My vet stitches feet and leg wounds, but her partner put in staples for a serious shoulder injury (I think there were subcue disolvable stitches as well. I'd guess it depends on the type of injury--personally I'd do what my vet advises.

 

I will say, having had both myself post-surgery, staples leave neater and less obvious scars, but that's not really an issue with dogs.

[dante2zoe]

I don't have any experience with a face wound, but my whippet has had the top of his head stapled twice. Gave him a valium, a couple shots of local and bang, bang, bang. He was good to go. With staples, you need to return to have them removed. I had another dog with staples in the front of his leg, healed great, no scar. He didn't even get a local, it was so fast. (Not my call, but the evet) Maybe it depends on the type of wound. Both dogs had flap tears, not chunks missing.

 

Hope he heals fine!

[Guest KennelMom]

I always prefer stitches b/c I don't have a staple remover tool at home. As for which is better to use for that location, I would defer to the vet. Some vets prefer staples for greyhounds because they think it holds the skin better w/o tearing...at least that's what they've told me.

[RobinM]

ok thanks, interesting.

[dmswartzfager]

When we were on a camping trip in New England way back when, Carrie bit Tyler's muzzle and opened up about a nickel-sized hole. We found a vet, and while I held Tyler, the vet stapled the wound shut. I was kind of surprised, but Tyler was a stoic boy and just let us do what we needed to do and only yelped when one staple had to be pulled out because it went in wrong.

 

 

Honestly, I have no preference of one versus the other. Whatever works to close the wound. Although since you pay a hefty price just to walk into most ER's, I don't think I would have left without it being closed up.

[Houndtime]

Actually, you don't have to go back to the vet to have staples removed. If you are brave, you can do it yourself. I am not brave, but Len is.

 

All you need is a manicure scissor. Put it in the staple closed, then slowly open the scissor. Out pops the staple. He has done it several times. He also will remove stitches.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

Honestly, I really like staples. They go in quickly, hold better, and heal nicely. I think you can buy skin staple removers online for like $5, otherwise most vets will remove them in the office for free.

 

I wouldn't use manicure scissors like Houndtime suggested though... the staples do bend like paper staples so removing them incorrectly will likely hurt!

[Guest KennelMom]

Every time I've had a dog in to have staples out they always offer me a staple remover and I forget to take it! Our primary vet seems to prefer stitches anyway...exception would be a spay here or there that they've opted for staples.

Edited July 29, 2011 by KennelMom

[Sambuca]

After the last wound I now prefer staples. He didn't need sedation and it was over real quick. I'm not sure in the face though.

[Rickiesmom]

Wth one exception we've always ended up with stitches. The exception was the skin flap on hind Rickie's leg - it was huge and I think a big part of the reason they stapled was for speed, to reduce the amount of time he had to remain anaesthetized. That would not apply to a small wound on the face though.

 

As an aside, my understanding is that skin is much more likely to remain viable if reattached within something like a 4 - 6 hour period, I forget exactly, but for that reason I would probably opt for whatever the vet chose to do, particularly if they were to sort to explain their preference.

 

 

 

[Guest KennelMom]

As an aside, my understanding is that skin is much more likely to remain viable if reattached within something like a 4 - 6 hour period, I forget exactly, but for that reason I would probably opt for whatever the vet chose to do, particularly if they were to sort to explain their preference.

 

By that time the edges of the wound have started to granulate/heal...our vet really won't stitch something unless it's pretty fresh or absolutely needed to be stitched and for whatever reason couldn't be gotten to a vet sooner. You can heal some pretty big wounds w/o stitches or staples.

Edited July 29, 2011 by KennelMom

[silverfish]

 

As an aside, my understanding is that skin is much more likely to remain viable if reattached within something like a 4 - 6 hour period, I forget exactly, but for that reason I would probably opt for whatever the vet chose to do, particularly if they were to sort to explain their preference.

 

Vet told me 12 hours at 2am this morning ... *Sigh*

 

Personally, I lean towards staples, for us, anyway. Both DH and I have had trouble with dissolvable stitches not dissolving so that what began as a neat and fairly painless wound became itchy, painful, and healed lumpy.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Both DH and I have had trouble with dissolvable stitches not dissolving so that what began as a neat and fairly painless wound became itchy, painful, and healed lumpy.

 

Our only situation that required staples ended up with a staple breaking off under the skin when the vet removed it. The vet wasn't particulary worried about it, but it worried Piaget horribly and she wouldn't leave it alone. It did eventually heal, but it took a lot longer than it would have.

 

I wasn't really given a choice as to how the wound was repaired, but if I had been, I most likely would have deferred to the vet. I'm curious as to why the staples were declined?

Edited July 29, 2011 by PiagetsMom

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I work at a vet clinic and I can tell you that most of the times people have gotten upset over staples, it was because they very much misunderstood the situation. Laypersons tend to think staples are only used when vets are being lazy. Of course that it NOT the case. Some people also think that staples = big scars. Also not true- sutures that have too much tension on them or that aren't placed correctly scar a whole lot worse than staples.

 

The only thing I'm confused about is why the 1st ER clinic didn't do sutures when the staples were declined... as long as they cover their butt in the records (aka "Staples were suggested for XYZ reason so sutures were placed. Side effects could include dehissence, scarring, etc.)

[Batmom]

Don't understand why staples were declined?

 

Most face wounds here have been closed with staples. Nothing sticking out (knots, knot ends) to worry the dog and cause excess urge to rub, scratch, etc. No difference in debriding procedure, local vs. general anaesthesia, etc.

 

My own vets seem to have a preference for staples for shallow wounds and those in areas without a lot of meat (e.g., lower leg on a greyhound) -- you can put a lot of staples close together, more easily than stitches, to hold fragile skin. Deeper, larger wounds in meatier areas (e.g., Joseph's abdominal surgery) tend to be closed with stitches. But I've seen other vets use dissolving stitches for the internals on larger wounds and close with staples. So maybe partly just vet preference.

 

We've had things stapled/sutured > 12 hours after the injury. Never had a problem. Beats the injury getting bigger because the tissue stretches or dog won't leave it alone.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

You can close wounds 12+ hours after injury, but it requires much more debriding and flushing/scrubbing. Also- the longer the wound is left open, the higher risk that bacteria will get into it so closing an older wound is more likely to trap infection in.

 

If it the wound already has a high risk of infection (ie: animal bite) and has been there for a while, the vet is likely to leave it open or bandage it. If it is a larger wound they will probably put the dog under general, debride it aggressively, and place drains before closing it.

 

Maggie was in a terrible dog fight last fall while she was in a foster home. The first vet that saw her attempted to close the wounds... she ended up going septic and was transferred to OSU. They reopened her wounds, debrided them, and managed them with bandages for quite a while before closing some of them. She was sent home with a hole in her side the size of a silver dollar which we managed with bandages until she healed.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I think the "look" of staples scares people, but sometimes they are a better choice (less scarring, might not need sedation, sometimes better for thin skin). My vets have always done staples for Greyhound skin tears, with the exception of Teagan's recent hip wound. I think it depends on the location and size of the wound, whether a drain is placed, etc.

 

The way my vet showed me how to remove staples is to snip them in the center with cutters, then pull out the two ends. It might depend on the wound location though.

 

I had a foster dog once that was spayed by a vet in MA before she came to us (this vet is known for crappy sutures ). One of her staples got turned around and "lost" in her incision. The vet looked at it and wasn't worried, said it would work its way out. She went on antibiotics and never had a problem, but I don't think that staple ever did come out....

 

 

 

 

[KF_in_Georgia]

Sam got staples in a to-the-bone cut on one foot. The staples held beautifully.

 

Unfortunately, Sam was such an excellent patient--not messing with his staples--that the skin started growing over the staples before the vet appointment to remove them. The vet tech started to pull the first staple, Sam let out his trademark GSOD and scared the tech into dropping everything. The tech regrouped, reached for Sam's foot, and the boy screamed again. The staples finally got pulled; then the tech took Sam for a walk around the waiting room so that alarmed customers could see that the screamer really wasn't hurt.

 

Stapled:

 

 

One week after the staples came out:

 

[cleptogrey]

my vet LOVES his staple gun. 1,2,3 it's done before the dog realizes that something is going on. felix had a L shaped tear,2"x2" and the skin died with in the 45 minutes it took me to get up to my vet. he shaved the area, cleaned it w/ betadine and made a dart(15 staples later)...a big hole over his ribs healed into a tiny scar. the other time he was nailed- on the back, very typical tooth nail, 4 staples and no evidence of any injury. it healed with in 2 weeks. his littermate had the same hole, same nailing on the back- 8 weeks of healing w/o any intervention.

 

i've also been pissed on both times while the staples were removed, i think a result of more fear than pain.

[PatricksMom]

Sam was such an excellent patient--not messing with his staples

 

That's been my experience--Patrick is horrible about leaving wounds and stitches alone. He was hardly an angel with staples, but he was much better and they held up better to the fussing he managed to do. Fortunately, though, there was no trouble removing them.

 

eta: I think they itch less, or at least that's been my experience. My staples, fine, my stitches, I told the surgeon if he didn't take them out I was doing it myself.

Edited July 30, 2011 by PatricksMom

[Guest Adrianne]

Little Ollie sliced open her back a few months ago. We're not sure how, but we think she tried to squeeze under the chain link fence and one of the prongs caught her. Because of my work at the time, I was not on top of things, and the guys didn't realize it was as deep as what it turned out to be. Long story short, I got hold of her about 36 hours after it happened, and by then it was infected......even though the guys had cleaned it several times. I took her straight to the vet, but it was obviously too late for stitches. He cut away tissue that was already dying on the right side of the wound. He said we would have to treat that as an open wound, but he put staples in the other side. Popped them right in easy-peasy. It all healed very nicely, and the staple removal was a cinch. I'd have no problem doing staples again.