Question out to all my ER colleagues (and that may only be you, 10 out of 10):
There's a podunk ER in my community, that is frequently doing things that make me cringe. (How they are even open as there are several excellent community ERs within a short drive is beyond me, but I digress...) I got an ER report this week of a child with a scalp laceration that was repaired by braiding the hair over it to close the wound. Discharge instructions were "Remove braid in one week."
Is this legit? Is this a bladeless suturing technique that I'm too ignorant to know of?
Or are they making this up?
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5 comments:
hello! am an er doc in singapore. and yes, we do close simple scalp lacerations with hair, aptly called the hat - hair apposition technique.
love your blog. keep writing!
Just like anonymous said, this is a known technique with a fancy name and some research behind it and everything.
I've never done this myself, I think because I've never seen it done and I figure patients (or their parents) will balk.
Thanks, guys - guess I'll have to swallow my exasperated groan and burp it up with the next ER report I get from them.
Don't worry, we'll do plenty of other stupid stuff to keep you up in arms :)
I can't believe it, but I'm going to link to the Journal of Family Practice:
http://www.jfponline.com/Pages.asp?AID=1314&UID=
Yes, it works, it's simple, and the patients don't cry. Twist and braid some hair, a drop of dermabond, and then send them home.
GruntDoc
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