Suture package

Claim 1

A multi-strand suture package comprising a card of relatively stiff material rectangular in shape having first and second flaps extending from one end thereof and folded along its center line to form overlying panels having a bottom edge along said fold, a top edge with said flaps extending therefrom, and two side edges; said panels being folded inwardly along fold lines parallel to said side edges to form first and second adjacent compartments and third and fourth adjacent compartments that are open at the top edge; each compartment containing a double-armed suture wound in the form of a coil comprising a multiplicity of figure-eight convolutions each of which comprise a centrally located suture crossing and opposed loops on each side of said crossing and integral with the suture portions forming the crossing, the suture crossing of successive figure-eight convolutions being superimposed one upon the other to dispose the convolutions in successive layers; a needle affixed to each end of each suture and extending from the open end of each compartment toward the bottom edge; said first flap being folded over the first and second compartments, and said second flap being folded over the third and fourth compartments, thereby closing the open end and retaining the needles in position between adjacent compartments; said first and second compartments being folded inwardly toward the third and fourth compartments to bring the first and second flaps together; and means for retaining the first and second flaps and adjacent compartments together in the folded position to form a suture package; whereby as the package is unfolded, said needles are exposed sequentially facilitating removal by the surgeon of each suture from its compartment one at a time without tangling or kinking.