Technical question about alar cinch and infection/removal

[dovidiostore]

Hi everyone! I'm not sure if some of you remember me, but I had become a member after having upper jaw surgery about 6 years ago.

My question pertains to the alar cinch - About one year post-op I had an infection and let it go for about a month while there was puss oozing out of my upper gum area. I visited the surgeon and he performed the 'maxillary exploration' during the visit to drain the infection (made an incision right under the one used for the surgery in the upper lip/gum). This was very painful and I was not under anesthesia, just numbed (many times) which was still painful. The surgeon located the problem suture and quickly removed it, and he thought he may as well look for the other one while he's in there, but while looking, it was far too painful for me so he closed me back up. He mentioned that I should be okay with one being removed and one still in tact, and since then I haven't really had any issues.

According to him, those stitches are only required for a certain amount of months post-op due to how long it takes for particular healing? I asked him if removing the stitch would change anything results-wise and he said no. I thought maybe in certain cases they could, but it seems like his technique may have been different?

Anyway, while I should have just let him look deeper for the other stitch, it was too painful for me and since then I was closed up with one of the two stitches. It has been about 5 years since then and I sometimes wonder if leaving one of two stitches in js 'okay'. I would hope not to have another minor procedure in the future and that this would not cause an unbalance of muscle and tissues, or pain.

Any input here? Are there any concerns I should be considering in this situation? (ie one of two sutures were removed. Do you need both long term?) Thanks

[PloskoPlus]

Alar cinches are usually from dissolving material like cat gut

[dovidiostore]

That's interesting. So you are saying that the material that is *generally* used in these sutures dissolve over time? Also, do you know if those are considered non-absorbable? (does nonabsorbable imply they can still dissolve, just really slowly?)

[dovidiostore]

I can't remember my surgeon mentioning anything about them dissolving but that would be nice if he used those. When I had that infection 1 year post op I thought it was the plate, and didn't think it could have been from the alar cinch(and honestly didn't know I had that done until then) so that was a surprise. I think it was a good idea to do the surgery because it helped with TMJ and bite and breathing through my nose enough to where I feel like it served its purpose, but this concern has been generating anxiety lately. Pretty much, I hope it's not hurting anything - assuming there is one of two alar sutures still in place which may or may not be the case (depending on if they dissolve over time)

[PloskoPlus]

They should dissolve over a few months.