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 not performed in the correct order, it can easily become 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 with forceps, they are all composed of basic actions, and the knots formed by the basic actions correspond to the theory of the trefoil knot in knot theory. There are two types of trefoil knots, which are mirror images of each other and are not the same. They are respectively called the left-handed trefoil knot and the right-handed trefoil knot. Therefore, no matter which technique is used, it will definitely correspond to these two types of trefoil knots.
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Right-handed hooking method corresponds to the right-handed trefoil knot.
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Left-handed hooking method corresponds to the left-handed trefoil knot.
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Right-handed scooping method corresponds to the left-handed trefoil knot.
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Left-handed scooping method corresponds to the right-handed trefoil knot.
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Right-handed forceps method corresponds to the right-handed trefoil knot.
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Left-handed forceps method corresponds to the left-handed trefoil 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 produce two different trefoil knots, which can form a correct square knot.