Surgical instruments and suture guide

[knock0ut]

Hey y'all, I'm applying into ENT and am wondering if anyone knows of a document that would be helpful to learn when to use the various surgical instruments and when to use which sutures...I know this is very broad and maybe just needs to be learned by experience, but I feel like it would be helpful to have a lot of that practical wisdom written up somewhere and passed down, so wondering if that has already been done.

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[Smurfette]

Hey y'all, I'm applying into ENT and am wondering if anyone knows of a document that would be helpful to learn when to use the various surgical instruments and when to use which sutures...I know this is very broad and maybe just needs to be learned by experience, but I feel like it would be helpful to have a lot of that practical wisdom written up somewhere and passed down, so wondering if that has already been done.

1. sutures will vary somewhat by attending preference. You will likely find in residency that for a given procedure, Dr. X likes Vicryl, Dr. Y likes PDS, etc. You'll have to see if you find a preference. It's more important to know things on a more basic level at your point, like how long the suture has to last (quick to dissolve, permanent, or somewhere in between) or whether you want a braided suture or monofilament. Suture size depends on what you're working on. I have to be honest, I don't always know needle types offhand when I need something atypical during a given case. I sometimes need them to show me the needle displayed on the package--a given suture may come with several needle options. What you are suturing and the size of the space you have to place the suture are the important aspects here.

2. As far as surgical instruments, there is some regional variation based on where you train. I trained only a couple hours from where I am now and some instruments here are called something different than they were there. And there are a few instruments I never saw before that are standard in the trays here. My advice is to see if a tech can show you and name the various instruments if you have some down time during a case. Just to get familiar, and they will likely let you handle them to get a feel for some of them. They can often tell you what the various fields use it for, or if it's a specialty specific item. The old-school techs can often also tell you alternate names of some of the instruments because they've worked with enough docs with various training backgrounds to have learned them.