Piano wire sutures, during Vietnam

[CPTAUSRET]

I was having a discussion with TS a couple of days ago and I mentioned that after I was medevacced out of Vietnam in Oct of 66, I went to Andrews AFB, then on to Irwin Army Hospital at Ft Riley Kansas, for surgery.

When I was medevacced to the 3rd field hosp in Saigon, they decided that they didn't want to complete the procedure in country, so they debrided the wounds as much as possible, (I had two bullets enter my right forearm, skim alont the bone, and exit around the elbow) wrapped it , and put a cast on it. I was kept at the 3rd field for five days til my fever went down, after awhile the cast began to stink like hell from the blood seepage.

I finally arrived at Irwin Army Hospital and was scheduled for surgery the next day, the evening prior both my upper legs were shaved for the skin grafts which were scheduled the next day. The day of the operation, I was placed face down on a gurney, and a small curtain of some kind was placed over my arm above the wounds, so that I was unable to observe what was was going on. But I was able to hear the discussions very well, it was immediately observed that the skingrafts were not going to be able to span, or hold the extent of the injuries. then suturing materials were discussed, and it was decided that the only thing strong enough to hold it all together was piano wire, so a search was on for heavy duty "piano wire". Now, maybe it wasn't piano wire, but it sure looked like it, and felt like it. I was unable to wear anything over the sutures which might snag in the minefield of wires coming out of my arm.

Later when it was time to remove the sutures, I was asked if I wanted something to cover up the pain involved with the wire removal, I very stupidly refused, as I had been wounded before, and had on occasion removed some of my own sutures. How bad could it be? Afterall there were perhaps 45-47 sutures, what is the big deal?

Well I found out soon enough, with a normal suture you cut the end away from the knot and pull it through via the knotted end. These heavy guage "piano wire" sutures had formed a loop, and DID NOT straighten out when they pulled through the very tender flesh, it felt similar to pulling fish hooks through my arm.

My ex-wife was there during this removal procedure, and I didn't want to look like a wuss in front of her, but by the time they were finished my hosp pj's were completely soaked in sweat, and I was shaking like a dog.

When I told TS about the "piano wire" he looked incredulous, so I am throwing this out there to you guys. Has anyone other than me been sewn up with "piano wire"? Or have you heard about it occurring??

Terry

[SP5IC]

Oh yeah. I stepped on a toe popper (20MM shell filled with powder & a plunger to activate the primer). By far, the most serious injuries were (and still are) to my right heel. There were multiple soft tissue wounds to my left leg below the knee. One of the larger injuries required substantial wire sutures. Regarding skin grafts, I had a pedicle graft initiated from my left calf to my right heel. They were sewn together for a month. I enjoyed a private room for that time as I was in a body cast to keep the graft intact. Several of the donor sites became infected. The docs cut little windows in my cast and pulled the nasty dressings out. That sh*t hurt. Lesson learned...don't step on mines.

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by SP5IC

Oh yeah. I stepped on a toe popper (20MM shell filled with powder & a plunger to activate the primer). By far, the most serious injuries were (and still are) to my right heel. There were multiple soft tissue wounds to my left leg below the knee. One of the larger injuries required substantial wire sutures. Regarding skin grafts, I had a pedicle graft initiated from my left calf to my right heel. They were sewn together for a month. I enjoyed a private room for that time as I was in a body cast to keep the graft intact. Several of the donor sites became infected. The docs cut little windows in my cast and pulled the nasty dressings out. That sh*t hurt. Lesson learned...don't step on mines.

SP5IC:

Thanks for the response, those dressings were NASTY, and stunk like hell. I don't have much residual effect other than I have no feeling in my elbow area, and my right hand doesn't fully open.

All in all I feel pretty damn lucky, while in Saigon I had a surgeon tell me that I would probably lose my right arm below the elbow, or it would stiffen up and become useless, just waste away (atrophy). I told him "I wasn't going to lose my arm, no matter what the consequences", and that if I did "I would shoot his ass afterward", he must have believed me.

Sorry you are still experiencing heel problems.

Terry

[DoctorDoom]

x

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by DoctorDoom

I have heard of this Capt., only because I asked about the use of wire sutures when I saw wire being used in cardiothoracic surgery to close the chest, they were just regular wire and not piano wire though, no concentric coil.

C L:

I know I was informed that piano wire is what was used on me, but I guess I need to research a little more to confirm what material was in fact used.

Have a good time in Hawaii!

Terry

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by CPTAUSRET

C L:

I know I was informed that piano wire is what was used on me, but I guess I need to research a little more to confirm what material was in fact used.

Have a good time in Hawaii!

Terry

I strongly suspect that it was single strand wire, not a coiled wire (which would offer no advantage but the ability to flex when pulled out, and would be a haven for bacteria).

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I strongly suspect that it was single strand wire, not a coiled wire (which would offer no advantage but the ability to flex when pulled out, and would be a haven for bacteria).

Makes sense.

I will attempt some research.

They did hurt like hell coming out.

Terry

[DoctorDoom]

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[DoctorDoom]

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[CPTAUSRET]

ylvia Mendoza's Articles
... What was not visible underneath his jersey were 13 thick piano-wire sutures that ran right up the middle of his torso, from his pelvic bone to his breastbone. ...
www.sylvia-mendoza.com/SDWMDecJan98.htm - 23k - Cached - Similar pages


Surgery
... artificial diaphragm. He closed the abdominal incision with stainless steel sutures that they obtained by sterilizing piano wire. I had ...
www.j4mn.org/surgery.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages


I am not finding very much, and I am unable to open the two references shown above, but I am still looking.

[Sweetbriar]

CPTAUSARET, if you can't open the original page and Google offers the "cached" page, click on that instead.

Your first page here.

Your second page here.

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by Sweetbriar

CPTAUSARET, if you can't open the original page and Google offers the "cached" page, click on that instead.

Your first page.[/URL]

Sweetbriar:

Thanks for the assistance!

Terry

Originally Posted by CPTAUSRET

C L:

I know I was informed that piano wire is what was used on me, but I guess I need to research a little more to confirm what material was in fact used.

Have a good time in Hawaii!

Terry

as said before, there is straight piano wire so I don't doubt that that may have been used and would still hurt coming out....

it is rare wire gets used for anything these days except the sternum.... and it is not coiled but straight.

doc t.

[CPTAUSRET]

Originally Posted by Doc T

as said before, there is straight piano wire so I don't doubt that that may have been used and would still hurt coming out....

it is rare wire gets used for anything these days except the sternum.... and it is not coiled but straight.

doc t.

doc t.:

Thanks for rendering an expert opinion.

I hope we can all get together the next time we are out your way.

Terry