Definitely the paths/PA's responsibility. Putting it in the histotech's court is like saying the car is responsible for hitting the pedestrian (not the driver). Crazy. We sometimes can see them when embedding but by then the tissue is not as pliable for easy removal without disturbing the tissue architecture. Margins are destroyed by the time we get the suture out. Ninety-nine percent of the time you can not find the knot to cut for removal. Staples can be embedded so deeply that they don't "shine" in reflective light. Only the blade finds them. If there is a whole line of them, the tissue is practically destroyed by pulling them out.
Debbie M. Boyd HT (ASCP) | Chief Histologist | Southside Regional Medical Center | 200 Medical Park Blvd. | Petersburg, Va. 23805 | PH 804-765-5025 | FAX 804-765-6058 ________________________________________ From: Bob Richmond via Histonet [histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] Sent: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 8:47 PM To: Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [Histonet] Staples and Sutures Kenneth G Metzger HTL(ASCP), Histology Supervisor, ARUP Labs, Salt Lake City, Utah asks: >>Recently we have had a marked increase in staples and sutures in our tissue that arrives for processing. I have tried to relay to our pathologists and PA's the difficulty in cutting sections and the tissue destruction in getting staples and sutures out once the tissue is processed to paraffin. I was told by some of them that in their experience histology should dealing with this issue. Though my own opinion is this is position is not valid, I've been asked to collect opinions from other histology departments if there are protocols that the grossing individual should be removing the foreign object. Please give me any feedback...Thanks<< What la-la land are your pathologists and PAs off in? I've caught plenty of hell in my life in pathology since 1964 - particularly back before the days of disposable blades - for not getting staples out of tissue before submitting it. This is definitely the responsibility of whoever's doing the grossing. Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: This electronic message may contain information that is Proprietary, Confidential, or legally privileged or protected. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and entity named in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete the material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information it contains. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
