Content area
Full Text
SUMMARY
Experiments measuring the cut-out values of sutures in eyelid skin indicate that 6/0 suture is the best choice.
INTRODUCTION
In a consideration of suture requirements for eyelid skin we recognized that there was no advantage in having a suture stronger than the force required to pull it through the tissues.
We sought the relevant information on pull-out values in the literature, and although we found cut-out or pull-out values for the following: Muscle = 3.0 lbs. Fascia = 8.2 lbs. Fat = 0.6 lbs1 and for Cornea = 0.1 5 Kgm,2 we were unable to find a value for sutures in eyelid skin. The following investigation was carried out to provide the missing data.
METHOD
An lnstrom tensiometer was not available to us, and a simple measuring device had to be constructed. As seen in the Figure, it consists of a grooved plastic wheel to which one end of a suture is attached. The wheel is 3.18 cm in diameter and is rotated once a minute by a small motor obtained from a washing machine timer. An on-off switch controls the motor. The other end...