Suturing and Knot Tying

There is a wealth of suturing and knot tying resources on the world wide web.

Needles and Suture Materials

The Wikipedia entry on surgical suture is well worth a read. It provides a comprehensive overview of needle types, shapes and sizes, and thread materials, absorbability and sizes. It also gives a short account of the history of suturing and a brief introduction to common suturing techniques.

The major manufacturers are also good sources of information. The Ethicon site is particularly good.


Sailing websites are an excellent source of knot-tying demonstrations. Animated Knots by Grog has step-by-step instructions of over 100 types of knots. The illustrations for the square (reef) knot include a copy of the granny (slip) knot for comparison. Ropers Knot Pages has a comprehensive list of knots and the Tollesbury Sailing Club has a gallery of knots with simple animations.

The following videos demonstrate surgical knot tying with one hand, two hands, and using an instrument:

Suturing Technique

The Boston University School of Medicine has a handy series of step-by-step instructions in knot tying and suturing techniques.

The Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association publishes a PDF guide to suturing and knot tying as part of its volunteer training materials.

The Medical Videos website has a very thorough video showing various techniques.

The following videos demonstrate simple interrupted suturing, vertical mattress suturing and subcuticular suturing:

Search the site


Cookie Crumb Trail

  1. Home
  2. / Suturing and Knot Tying
Specialty Interests