Fibres, surgical dressings &

sutures
Natural Fibres

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 Objectives

On completion of this lesson. You would be able to

know

What are FIBRES ?

DRESS …….ING?

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 Known to unknown

1. What is a suture ? Give an example ?

2. What is a ligature ?

3. Have you seen any body get injured & sutured ?

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 Surgical Fibres

Natural fibres in preparation of dressings & sutures

Source, preparation & identification of fibres

Types of surgical dressings

Surgical sutures & Ligatures

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 FIBRES
• Elongated thick walled cells with pointed ends
Sources:
• Plant - Cellulose + Lignin
• Eg. Cotton, Jute, Hemp, Flax
• Animal – Proteinous
Eg. Silk, wool
• Mineral – Eg. Glass, Asbestos
• Manmade – Alginate yarn, Regenerated
Cellulose, Fibrolin
• Synthetics – Terylene, Orlon, Dacron

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 PLANT FIBRES
COTTON:

Cotton wool, purified cotton,

Absorbent cotton, surgical cotton
- Dried epidermal trichomes of seeds
Gossypium herbaceum
G.barbadense Fig.81.1
– Malvaceae

Preparation:
Fruits (Capsule 3-5 celled)
Seeds with trichomes
(Bolls)
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Fig.81.2 6
 Ginning press Fig.81.3

Trichomes
Seeds

Cotton Short hairs

seed oil Long hairs
(Linters)

Raw cotton Cloth

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Raw cotton (wax, fat, coloring matter)

Saponified (10-15 hrs) Washing

Cotton
opener

Dried, carded into sheets

Packed & Sterilised
(Absorbent Cotton)

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 Cotton
Morphology
• White
• Odourless & tasteless
• 2.5 – 4.5cm (l) 25-35µ (dia)
• Unicellular covering trichomes
• Flat & ribbon like, tubular
Standards
• Length of staple - not< 1.5cm
• Water soluble extractive – not> 0.5%
• Ash value – not> 0.5%

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 Cotton
Cotton should comply tests in the monograph
• Naps
• Fluorescence
• Acidity
• Absorbency and
• Oxidising substances

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 Cotton
Constituents:

Raw
• 90% cellulose
• 7-8% moisture
• Wax
• Fat
• Coloring matter

Absorbent
• Entirely cellulose
• 6-7% moisture

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 TESTS
dry
1. Fibres + I2 Soln. + 80% H2SO4

Purplish blue / green

2. Fibres + Cuoxam Soluble with uniform

swelling (Ab.Cotton)
Soluble with formation of
balloons (Raw cotton)

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 Cotton – Tests

3. Cotton + dil NaOH Insoluble

Cotton + dil HCl Insoluble
Cotton + 66% H2SO4 Soluble
4. Cotton + Iodinated ZnCl2 Violet color
5. Cotton + ZnCl2 Soln heat Insoluble

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 Cotton

Uses
• Filtering medium
• Preparation of surgical dressings
• Insulating material

Storage
• Cool & dry place (prevent friable & brittle)
• Packed in wrappers (protect from dust &
microorganisms)

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 Jute/Gunny
• Phloem fibres (Stem bark)
Corchorus capsularis/C.olitorius
Tiliaceace
Preparation:
• Flowering plants bundled
• Soaked in stagnant water 10-12 days fibres
separated
• Stripped, cleaned, washed several times
• Bleached & dried in sun
• Graded according to color, length etc.,
• Made into Bales (175-200kg)
Morphology
• Yellowish brown
• 0.8-5mm (l)
Fig.81.4
• 10-25 µ dia

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Jute/Gunny
Chemical constituents:

• Cellulose 53%
• Hemicellulose 20%
• Lignin 10%
• Moisture 13%
Uses:
• Manufacture of tows
(stupa)
• Padding splints
• Filtering & straining
media
Fig.81.5
• Coarse jute bags
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 Hemp/Cannabis

Source: Pericyclic fibres

Cannabis sativa
Cannabinaceae

Preparation: Similar to Jute

Fig.81.6 Plant
Morphology:Fibres 25-40mm (l)
blunt rounded ends
chiefly cellulose

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Fig.81.7 Stem 17
Hemp/Cannabis

Uses:
Fig.81.8
Preparation of twine &
ropes

Pharmaceutically less
important

Fig.81.9 Hemp being harvested

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 Flax

• Pericyclic fibres stems of Linum usitatissimum

• Linaceae
• Prepared similar to jute
• Lustrous, tensile, 25-50mm (l)
• Fine pointed ends
• Pecto-cellulose
• Used in manufacture of Lint but replaced by cotton
• Preparation of rugs, lace lawn & filtering medium

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 ANIMAL FIBRES
SILK:
• Cocoons of Bombyx mori
• Bombycidae (order lepidoptera)
• Larvae (silk worm) produce silk
fibroin (mouth) mixed with sericin
(gummy secretion) and form
cocoons
• Heated 60-80°C by steam
• Put in hot water to separate fibres Fig.81.10
• 5-25 µ in (d), fine, solid, smooth
yellow colour
• Fibroin hydrolysis gives Glycine &
Alanine
• Soluble in cuoxam, 66% H2SO4 &
HCl.
• Preparation of sutures, ligatures &
seives

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 Wool
• Fleece of sheep Ovis aries Bovidae
• Processed to remove dirt & wool fat, bleached,
washed & dried
• Smooth, elastic, lustrous, curly, hygroscopic, slippery
• Sulphur containing protein (keratin) & cystine
• Filtering & staining medium, manufacture of dressing,
crepe bandage
• Insoluble in 66% H2SO4 , HCl & Cuoxam
• Black precipitate with Lead Acetate
• Soluble in 1.25M NaOH

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 MINERAL FIBRES
Glass:

• Sand (silica) with oxides of Al, Ca, B & Mg

• Melt at high temperature forms bead
• Filter fabrics and splinting material

Asbestos:

• Hydrated Magnesium silicates

• White, yellow or green
• Highly refractive, do not fuse
• Filtering medium, bacterial filters & Insulating material

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 ARTIFICIAL FIBRES

Fibres regenerated from carbohydrate materials:

• Alginate yarn
• Artificial silk or Rayon or Regenerated cellulose

Fibres Regenerated from Protein materials:

• Aridil from groundnut protein

• Fibrolin from milk casein

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 Synthetic Fibres
Nylon:
• Polymer of Adipic Acid and Hexamethylene diamine

• Lustrous, dull, white or coloured

• Bead formed when heated

• Soluble in 5M HCl

• Insoluble in 90% Formic Acid, 90% Phenol

• Filter cloths, seives and non absorbable sutures

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 Synthetic Fibres

Terylene

• Polymer of Ethylene glycol and tetraphthalic acid

Orlon

• Polymer of Acrylonitrile

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 Summary

In this class we learnt about

• Various types of fibres with their sources,
preparation nature & uses

• Plant, Animal, Mineral, Manmade & Synthetic fibres

used in surgical dressings

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 Quiz - 1

1.Cotton fibres contain

(a) Proteins

(b) Cellulose

(c) Alkaloids

(d) Tannins

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 Quiz
2.Silk fibres obtained from
(a) Plants

(b) Animals

(c) Minerals

(d) Synthetic source

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 Questions

1. What are surgical fibres? Classify them with examples.

2. Write the Botanical source, morphology method of

preparation and uses of cotton.

3. How cotton fibres are identified ?

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