Hemostasis and suturing during surgery both require ligation, and the firmness of the ligation is closely related to the knotting. The knot must be tied securely and should not be loose or slip.
The commonly used knot is the square knot, which is very secure after ligation and is the most commonly used in surgery. However, when tying a square knot, if the technique is performed in the wrong order, it is easy to create a false knot or slip knot. Therefore, we will discuss the equivalence of basic knotting techniques to help understand the essence of the knots formed by different techniques quickly.
Apart from surgical knots that are not easily confused, whether it is tying a knot with one hand or using forceps, they are all composed of combinations of basic actions, and the knots formed by these basic actions correspond to the three-loop knot theory. There are two types of three-loop knots, which are mirror images of each other and are not the same. They are called the left-handed three-loop knot and the right-handed three-loop knot. Therefore, no matter which technique is used, it will definitely correspond to these two types of three-loop knots.
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Right-handed hooking method corresponds to the right-handed three-loop knot.
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Left-handed hooking method corresponds to the left-handed three-loop knot.
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Right-handed scooping method corresponds to the left-handed three-loop knot.
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Left-handed scooping method corresponds to the right-handed three-loop knot.
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Right-handed forceps method corresponds to the right-handed three-loop knot.
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Left-handed forceps method corresponds to the left-handed three-loop knot.
Therefore, the right-handed hooking method, left-handed scooping method, and right-handed forceps method are equivalent; the left-handed hooking method, right-handed scooping method, and left-handed forceps method are equivalent. Any combination of these two basic knotting actions can create two different three-loop knots, which can form a correct square knot.