The cross section of the point of a taper needle is circular. These needles are designed to pass through nonresistant soft tissues with minimal trauma, leaving a very small needle track. Small taper needles are ideal for gastrointestinal surgery. Thecross section of the point of a cutting needle is triangular, with sharp edges at the corners. These needles are designed to pass through more resistant soft tissues, such as skin. Because the cutting edge is on the concave surface of the needle, the needles are prone to cutting through tissue, leaving a large needle track, when suturing fragile soft tissues. Reverse cutting needles, in which the cutting edge is on the convex surface, are less prone to this problem. In large dogs, the mucosa of the stomach and the submucosa of the small intestine can be dense and difficult to pass a taper needle through, and some surgeons prefer cutting needles in these situations. While virtually any type of monofilament synthetic suture material may be used for stomach or small intestine, I prefer the slowly absorbed materials such as PDS and Maxon, which provide approximately 6 weeks of effective strength (the rapidly absorbed materials such as Biosyn and Monocryl are ideal for urinary tract and subcutaneous tissues, where rapid absorption is advantageous). I prefer 4-0 suture for intestine in cats and small dogs, and 3-0 in medium and large dogs.
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