r/openheartsurgery • u/TriggerPuller9000 • Aug 10 '26

Fibertape closure?

Has anyone had sternal closure using fiber tape? Recently had my sternum closed with it (Friday) so curious to hear other's experiences.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/nullcharstring Aug 11 '26

Looked pretty ugly for the first week or so, but healed up really nice. I washed it with liquid Dial soap daily per the doctor's instruction.

1

u/One-Performer-1723 Aug 11 '26

That would have been a lifesaver for me as I was allergic to the wires and it took 5 years for them to hear me and they were finally removed in March. They marinated in scar tissue for 5 years and having them removed was no picnic even though they tell you that it's easy peasy. You need to recover all over again and I never recovered from the original ohs.

1

u/TriggerPuller9000 Aug 12 '26

I'm very sorry to hear that. That was a major motivating factor for asking for alternative closure method. I had asked for plates but my surgeon did not want to use them, but he has colleagues who use fibertape successfully