Ligature is a sterile thread of various materials used in medical practice for ligation of blood vessels, tissues, as well as for connecting various organs, bones and joints. It is applied without using a needle.
Using ligatures
Ligature in surgery is mainly used to stop various degrees of bleeding from an injured vessel. The thread, crashing when dressing in tissue, damages their inner shell. It is wrapped inside the vessel and leads to the formation of a blood clot, which prevents the outflow of blood. To avoid the appearance of massive seals, it is necessary, when carrying out the manipulation, to separate the large vessels to be ligated from each other. Depending on the goal to be achieved using the ligature, absorbable and non-absorbable threads are used.
After applying the ligature, various complications may arise associated with suppuration of the wound, untying the knot, and its slipping. Antiseptic treatment of wounds, as well as compliance with the technique of vascular binding, helps to avoid this. Depending on the threads used, different methods of creating knots are used. Some of them are highly reliable, others are used extremely rarely.
Natural materials for ligatures
Threads for ligatures are made of different materials: silk, linen, catgut, synthetic fibers. Silk ligature is a non-absorbable natural thread. They are characterized by high strength, which does not disappear over time, practically do not stretch. Securely tied with two knots. Silk threads of different thicknesses are produced in sterile and non-sterile form. To sterilize silk ligatures, steam sterilizers are used, as well as a special Pervomur solution. It is used for emergency cleansing.
Absorbable ligature is a catgut thread. They are a natural material made from the muscle of the small intestine of sheep. It is used to bind subcutaneous tissue, with surgical intervention in the liver structure, for various manipulations that do not require special reliability of the threads for vascular binding. Silicone and chrome-plated catgut is also produced, which has higher strength.
Synthetic materials
Synthetic threads have found wide application in medical practice. They are also absorbable and non-absorbable. The first include ocelon, katselon. They do not cause allergic and inflammatory reactions, are more reliable than catgut. Non-absorbable synthetic ligature - this is nylon, kapron, mercilene. They are inferior in strength to silk, in addition, a knot of these materials can be untied, so they are quite smooth. To prevent this, you need to tie from three to five knots. In orthodontic practice, a special ligature is used - elastic. She ties the arc of braces. Metal ligature is used to connect bones and joints. The threads must be strong, resistant to corrosion, elastic and smooth. They are made of titanium, silver, nickel wire, steel.