• One Health
  • Pain Management
  • Oncology
  • Geriatric & Palliative Medicine
  • Ophthalmology
  • Anatomic Pathology
  • Poultry Medicine
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Dermatology
  • Theriogenology
  • Nutrition
  • Animal Welfare
  • Radiology
  • Internal Medicine
  • Small Ruminant
  • Cardiology
  • Dentistry
  • Feline Medicine
  • Soft Tissue Surgery
  • Urology/Nephrology
  • Avian & Exotic
  • Preventive Medicine
  • Anesthesiology & Pain Management
  • Integrative & Holistic Medicine
  • Food Animals
  • Behavior
  • Zoo Medicine
  • Toxicology
  • Orthopedics
  • Emergency & Critical Care
  • Equine Medicine
  • Pharmacology
  • Pediatrics
  • Respiratory Medicine
  • Shelter Medicine
  • Parasitology
  • Clinical Pathology
  • Virtual Care
  • Rehabilitation
  • Epidemiology
  • Fish Medicine
  • Diabetes
  • Livestock
  • Endocrinology

Idea Exchange: An alternative to bandages after aural hematoma surgery

Article

Stay sutures keep ears in perfect position.

To keep an ear stationary after aural hematoma surgery, I place two stay sutures. First, I pull a suture completely through the pinna from the inner surface to the outer. Next, I take a bite of skin on the head above the ear and come back through the pinna from the outer surface to the inner and tie the suture. I then repeat the process. Thus, two simple stay sutures are placed. I leave the tails long to easily identify them when I remove the sutures a week later.

This technique places the ear in a position that makes administering medication easier and keeps the ear from being further traumatized when the patient shakes its head. In addition, I typically place an Elizabethan collar to prevent the patient from scratching or pawing and causing further damage.

Dr. A. Brent Chance

Pleasant Hill, Mo.

Related Videos
© 2023 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.