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Can Urgent Care Do Stitches?

Can Urgent Care Do Stitches?

Knowing whether to go to urgent care or the emergency room for stitches can save you time and money. Many cuts and lacerations require medical attention to close and dress the wound properly. However, a trip to the ER for a few stitches can result in hours of waiting and a large bill. Urgent care facilities can treat many simple lacerations quickly and affordably. Being able to identify which types of cuts can be treated at urgent care versus severe wounds requiring the ER helps you make the right choice to get the medical services you need efficiently.

This guide covers the signs you may need stitches, what types of lacerations can be treated at urgent care, and when you should go to the emergency room instead. Understanding the difference allows you to take care of cuts safely while avoiding unnecessary waits and expenses.

Types of Cuts Requiring Stitches

Not every cut needs stitches. Only deeper cuts that are long, have jagged edges, or are located on certain high-risk parts of the body typically require stitches. Here are the types of lacerations that may need stitching:

  • Deep cuts: If a cut is more than 1/4 inch deep or down to the fat/muscle layer, it likely needs closure with stitches. The depth involves more than just the skin and needs to be closed up.
  • Long cuts: Longer cuts tend to gape open and need to be pulled together. Lacerations over 1 inch long on the face and 2-3 inches long elsewhere often require stitches for proper healing.
  • Jagged edges: If a cut has ragged, irregular edges, the skin won’t heal as cleanly together. Stitches can neatly line up the torn edges.
  • High-risk locations: Cuts on certain parts of the body with lots of movement or tension are prone to re-opening. These include the face, joints, hands, feet and genitals. Stitches help mitigate the risk.

Getting stitches for these types of deeper, more complex lacerations helps facilitate proper healing and reduces the risks of complications like infections or unsightly scarring.

Signs a Cut Needs Stitches

Some clear signs that a cut needs stitches include:

  1. You can’t close the wound yourself: If the wound edges separate when you release pressure, leaving a gap, stitches are likely required to close it properly. Trying to force the wound closed will just cause more tissue damage. 
  2. There is heavy or ongoing bleeding: Cuts that bleed steadily after 10 minutes of pressure require closure. If blood pools or spurts out, go to the ER.
  3. The wound is gaping open: Deep cuts with separated skin edges that gape open need stitches to hold them together for proper healing. The width of the gap indicates the need for sutures.
  4. The cut is very deep into the fat or muscle: Extremely deep wounds require stitches, even if they aren’t bleeding heavily. Cuts that reveal underlying fat or expose muscles cannot heal on their own and need surgical closure.

Risks of Not Closing Serious Wounds

Failing to close a serious laceration that requires stitches can lead to a number of risks and complications. The main risks include:

  • Increased bleeding: An open wound can continue to bleed heavily without stitches to close it. That can lead to blood loss and other complications.
  • Infection: Deep open wounds are prone to infection if bacteria are able to enter the wound. Without closing and protecting the wound, the risk of infection increases.
  • Poor healing: Leaving a gaping wound open causes delays in the healing process. The wound may heal in an irregular pattern, leaving a larger scar.
  • Bigger scar: Without proper closure and optimal healing, a wound will likely scar larger and more visibly. The scar tissue may also become thicker and raised.

Stitches bring the skin edges together for optimal healing and reduce these risks. Serious lacerations that are deep and gaping especially require stitches to avoid complications like excess bleeding, infection, and prominent scarring. If a wound meets the criteria for stitches, it’s important to seek prompt medical care for evaluation and closure.

Urgent Care Stitches

Urgent care facilities are equipped to treat simple, uncomplicated lacerations that require stitches. These are often cuts on the arms or legs that are straight and relatively short. The medical provider can properly clean, anaesthetize, and suture these types of wounds.

Some examples of lacerations that urgent care can handle include:

  • Straight cuts on the forearms or shins that are less than 2 inches long
  • Clean slices on the palms or elbows from accidents with kitchen knives or tools 
  • Small flaps of skin that can be easily realigned and stitched  
  • Uncomplicated wounds with minimal bleeding or inflammation

Urgent care doctors have the supplies and skills to numb the area around these lacerations and precisely stitch up the wound. The number of stitches will depend on factors like the length and depth of the cut. The provider will also clean the laceration to prevent infection and dress the wound after stitching.

For simple, straight lacerations on the arms or legs that are not too deep, an urgent care clinic can provide the necessary stitches and aftercare instructions at a lower cost and faster timeline compared to the emergency room.

Severe Wounds Requiring the ER

Certain severe lacerations require emergency care and stitches at the ER. These include:

  • Facial lacerations: Cuts on the face often involve delicate structures like nerves, blood vessels, and muscles that control facial expressions. Facial wounds require meticulous repair by ER doctors to minimize scarring.
  • Wounds with heavy bleeding: Deep cuts that hit major blood vessels can result in dangerous bleeding that is difficult to control. The ER is equipped to stop bleeding and provide blood transfusions if needed.
  • Large gaping wounds: Large open gashes that cannot be easily closed may need layers of deep sutures by ER doctors. This prevents infection and allows for proper healing.
  • Cuts down to bone/muscle: Lacerations that extend deep into the tissue, exposing bone, muscle, or tendons need ER care. The wound needs to be thoroughly irrigated and the deeper structures carefully repaired.
  • Finger or toe amputations: Complete or partial loss of a finger or toe constitutes a surgical emergency. The amputated part should be brought to the ER, where surgeons may reattach it.

Severe, complex lacerations require the specialized training, equipment, and facilities of the ER. Waiting or self-treatment of serious wounds can lead to disfigurement, disability, or even death.

Urgent Care Benefits Over the ER

Urgent care centers offer several advantages over hospital emergency rooms for getting stitches on less severe lacerations. The main benefits of choosing urgent care include:

  • Shorter Wait Times: Urgent care centers are equipped to handle more routine medical issues and have less patient volume than busy ERs. Wait times are typically 15-45 minutes at an urgent care clinic versus several hours in an ER. You can get evaluated and treated more quickly.
  • Lower Costs: Visiting urgent care for stitches is generally much more affordable than going to an ER. Health insurance copays are usually $20-$50 at urgent care compared to $200+ copays for the ER. Even without insurance, urgent care stitching costs $100-$300 vs potentially thousands at the hospital.
  • Treating Simple Wounds: Urgent Care has the capabilities to clean, anesthetize, and suture most uncomplicated, straight lacerations. They can efficiently stitch up and dress cuts on the arms, legs, torso, and some areas of the face. Urgent care is ideal for wounds needing just a few stitches.

Getting stitches at an urgent care facility provides faster treatment and significant cost savings compared to the ER. They can effectively handle less complicated wounds requiring basic stitching and closure. Urgent care is the preferred choice over the ER for simple cuts needing stitches.

Urgent Care Process

When you arrive at urgent care for stitches, you can expect the following process:

  • Evaluation: The first step is an evaluation by the doctor or nurse practitioner. They will examine the wound, ask questions about how the injury occurred, and determine if stitches are appropriate or if the ER is necessary for more advanced treatment.
  • Cleaning: Before stitching, the laceration will be thoroughly cleaned to remove any debris and prevent infection. Urgent care may irrigate the wound with saline solution or use an antiseptic scrub.
  • Anesthesia: The provider will then numb the area around the cut using a local anesthetic injection. It prevents pain during the stitching process. Common numbing agents include lidocaine or bupivacaine. 
  • Stitching: Once the anesthetic has taken effect, the doctor or nurse will precisely stitch the wound closed using sutures. The number of stitches depends on factors like wound size, depth, and location. Dissolvable sutures may be used so they don’t require later removal.
  • Aftercare: After stitching, you’ll receive instructions on caring for the wound as it heals. That includes keeping it clean and dry, using antibiotic ointment, watching for signs of infection, and when to come back for follow-up. Any non-dissolving sutures will need to be removed after a period of healing, often 5-10 days.

When to Seek Medical Care

Knowing when to seek medical care for a cut can be tricky. Here are some signs that indicate you may need stitches:

  • The wound is deep, and you can’t close it yourself with butterfly bandages or tape. Gaping wounds likely need stitches.
  • Bleeding doesn’t stop after 10-15 minutes of firm pressure. This signifies a deeper cut that requires stitching. 
  • The wound has jagged edges. Lacerations with irregular torn skin are prone to reopen and benefit from stitching.
  • The cut is longer than 1/2 inch. In general, lacerations over 1/2 inch should be evaluated for stitches to minimize scarring.
  • The wound is on the face, hand, foot, or other sensitive area. Cuts on the face, especially, should be stitched to optimize cosmetic outcomes.
  • You can see fat, muscle, or bone. Very deep wounds exposing underlying tissue necessitate stitches. 
  • A tendon or deep structure seems affected. Numbness or inability to move a body part indicates a very severe cut needing repair.

Seeking prompt care is wise if a wound exhibits these high-risk features. Many lacerations without complications can be stitched up conveniently at urgent care.

FAQs

Conclusion

Getting stitches at an urgent care clinic is often the best option for treating simple lacerations, as it allows you to avoid the notoriously long wait times and high costs of the emergency room. Urgent care can efficiently and affordably stitch uncomplicated, straight wounds that are not bleeding heavily or gaping open. The providers can numb the area, thoroughly clean out the cut, and close it up with a few sutures. 

Urgent care is ideal for evaluating cuts on the arms, legs, head, and trunk that may need a limited number of stitches to close. The clinics offer much shorter wait times compared to busy ERs, where you could potentially wait hours with a bleeding wound before being seen. They also charge far lower fees for stitching straightforward wounds. If the laceration is complex, involves heavy bleeding, or is on the face, hands, or feet, it’s safest to go to the emergency room. But for routine, simple cuts requiring basic stitching, urgent care is the best bet to avoid excessive time and money expenditures.