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Medicine vocabulary · Treatments and Procedures

Suture

Meaning in medicine, with examples

/ˈsuːtʃər/nounCommon term

In medicine, suture means: A stitch, or the thread used to make stitches, that holds the edges of a wound or surgical cut together while it heals.

In Turkish: dikiş, sütür

How it is used

Also a verb: 'suture a wound'. Doctors talk about absorbable and non-absorbable sutures and when to remove them. Patients usually say 'stitches'. Alternatives include skin glue and staples.

Example sentences

  1. The cut on his forehead needed six sutures.

  2. Your sutures are dissolvable, so they don't need to be taken out.

Common collocations

  • absorbable sutures
  • remove sutures
  • suture a wound
  • skin sutures
  • surgeryTreatment in which a doctor cuts into the body to repair, remove or replace something; also the medical specialty that does this.
  • operateTo cut into a patient's body in order to repair, remove or examine something as a surgical treatment.
  • infectionAn illness caused when bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites enter the body and multiply.
  • follow-upA later appointment or check to see how a patient is doing after treatment, a test result or a hospital stay.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Treatments and Procedures

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.