This variety of suture is much employed in veterinary surgery, especially in connection with short superficial wounds. It is formed by inserting two or more pins or needles, or other suitable material, through the lips of the incision. The pins should be placed at equal distances apart of not less than half to three-quarters of an inch, and should be made to enter the skin from half an inch to an inch from one of its edges, and to reappear at the same distance from the other on the opposite side.

Fig. 415. - Twisted Suture.

Fig. 416. - Circular-twist Suture.

The requisite number of pins having been introduced, a piece of silk, catgut, or some soft thick thread or other material should be twisted around each one of them in the form of the figure 8 (fig. 415), or it may be made to describe the circular twist (fig. 416). In carrying the suture from one pin to the other, the crossing of the thread should be made to lie over the line of the wound as shown in the diagrams.