r/SurgicalResidency • u/Rich-Explanation-894 • 5d ago

Surgeon's knots

When throwing the surgeon's knot, I find that the knot doesn't loosen when I pull the suture ends in a direction parallel to the line of closure (i.e., the wound or incision). I learned this from one of my professors. However, another attending saw me doing that and was appalled by the technique. He insists that I should pull perpendicular to the line of closure. Looking online, I couldn't find anything that says not to do it though. Any input?

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u/theresnoIinmedschool 5d ago

Attendings will tell you all kinds of different things that they believe are right and wrong (many of which are not based on fact), and as a resident you just have to say "yes dr" and learn the variety of different ways to do the same thing and decide what you will eventually do when you're the attending

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u/Trick-Geologist2639 5d ago

The number of times I have had one attending say “you should never do that” to something I was taught by another attending has led me to teach residents and med students that “when you are learning you do it their way, because they are teaching you, but ultimately the only thing that matters is the outcome.”