Importance

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Abstract

A suture retainer includes a first panel and foldably connected second through fifth panels. When all of the panels are folded, the retainer has the approximate size and shape of the first panel, and the suture is contained within the folded panels. Separator facilities on the first panel prevent suture strands from becoming tangled. The separator may constitute a pleated low friction sheet with the strands contained between the plats, or it may constitute one or more sinuous cuts in the first panel which define tabs for holding the strands. Sutures are withdrawn from a site at one end of the first panel. The second panel is foldably located at the other end of the first panel and maintains suture strands within the boundary of the first panel. The third panel is foldable about a side of the first panel to overly the folded second panel, the separator and the sutures and to complimentarily overly the first panel. A holder, such as a foam strip on the first panel and near the withdrawal site, holds the suture strand to maintain the needle strand attachment point at the withdrawal site. Facilities normally cover the needlepoints at the withdrawal site. These facilities may constitute either a tab on the third panel, which covers the needlepoints when the third panel is folded, or a removable sheath on the needles. Tabs on the third panel fit into slits at the boundary of the first and fourth panels to keep the third panel folded.

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First Claim