Is staple removal within the scope of practice of a physical therapist?
The subject of staple removal was considered by the Practice Issues Committee of the Physical Therapy Board of California (Board) at their meeting of August 1995. The Practice Issues Committee opined that physical therapists may not perform invasive procedures; specifically in this instance, that of stapling a wound closed. The removal of staples, on the other hand, is a non-invasive procedure, which would ordinarily come under the heading of nursing services, and is not normally associated with the practice of physical therapy; however, physical therapists may provide any non-invasive physical rehabilitation procedure they have been adequately trained to perform. Should a facility elect to train physical therapists to do staple removal, the facility would need a written protocol to be included in their policies and procedures manual, and to be used in the training of each physical therapist who will perform this procedure. The training protocol must be sufficient to ensure the facilit
