Preparing for a Laceration Repair

In practice

A woman arrives with a cut on her hand from a kitchen knife, and the provider decides to close it with sutures. The medical assistant confirms the patient's identity and asks about allergies, including allergies to latex, medications and tape. She cleans and prepares the instrument tray area, then opens the sterile suture tray away from her body first, touching only the outer edges of the wrapper. She adds sterile gauze to the field by peeling the pouch open and dropping the gauze from several inches above. She keeps the field's outer edge, and anything below the tabletop, out of use. The provider prepares the skin as ordered and repairs the cut. The medical assistant stays nearby to hand supplies on request, to reassure the patient, and to watch that nobody reaches across the field. Afterward, she applies the dressing the provider orders. She disposes of the used sharps straight into the container and cleans the area. She gives the patient the written wound-care instructions the provider has approved, and she schedules the suture removal the provider has ordered. Finally she documents the procedure details the practice requires, including who performed the repair.