the glue

[Karen G]

My oldest daughter went to get her stitches out today. She bumped her
head 10 days ago and put a cut on the back. The doctor tried to glue
it, but there was one spot that just wouldn't quite hold. He added two
stitches so that we could go out of town for the weekend. When I took
her in, the doctor couldn't get the stitches out because they were mired
in the glue. Ick! Funny though, the doctor commented, tongue in cheek,
"let's just send her back to the er and let them find the stitches."
Then the doctor realized that it was the boss that put them in. Whoops.

Anyway, has anyone ever dealt with stitches and the glue together. They
told me to soak it and keep trying to get the hair to come out of the
mess. I was combing it today and accidently combed out one of the
stiches that had come untied.

Karen G

[Ann Porter]

"Karen G" > wrote in message
...

> Anyway, has anyone ever dealt with stitches and the glue together. They
> told me to soak it and keep trying to get the hair to come out of the
> mess. I was combing it today and accidently combed out one of the
> stiches that had come untied.

Is the wound all closed over? Completely? If so, maybe nail polish remover
would help.

Best,
Ann

[Robyn Kozierok]

In article >,
Karen G > wrote:
>When I took
>her in, the doctor couldn't get the stitches out because they were mired
>in the glue. Ick!

Oh, dear!

>Anyway, has anyone ever dealt with stitches and the glue together. They
>told me to soak it and keep trying to get the hair to come out of the
>mess. I was combing it today and accidently combed out one of the
>stiches that had come untied.

No experience, but I'd think you'd need to use a solvent other than water
to dissolve the glue. Try googling on terms such as "medical grade glue
solvent" (for some reason I can't connect to google right now or I'd try
it myself) to see if anything useful comes up.

Good luck!

--Robyn

[Karen G]

So that it goes on the record, the information I found was that acetone
would probably solvate it. That said, I have continued the water soaks
as directed and combed at it some more to remove as much as I can. I
don't have any acetone, as my fingernail polish remover is specifically
acetone-free.

The bioadhesive used in this case was "dermabond."

Fun stuff. It is starting to dissolve at pull free. I hope they don't
cut more of her hair. She doesn't need a bald spot.

Karen G