European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Aim: To compare staplers vs simple interrupted vs sub-cuticular method of skin closure of
surgical wounds.
Material and method:The present randomized prospective study was conducted in the
Department of Surgery at Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly from January
2020 to October 2021 among 150 subjects who underwent surgical procedures. Equal number
of patients was allotted to 3 groups by random envelope allocation method i.e. Group
A(Stapled skin closure), Group B(Interrupted skin closure) and Group C(Sub cuticular skin
closure). Following the completion of closure, an antiseptic medicated cream was applied
followed with a protective dressing for the first 24–72 h. Subcutaneous Drains were placed in
selective cases according to infection and were kept till the drain content was minimal. All
patients were given IV antibiotics for 5–7 days postoperatively. The closures were removed
after an interval of 10–14 days, first removing the alternate sutures and then the remaining
sutures after few days and pain on removal was recorded using VAS.
Results: Postoperative pain score at discharge was least in sub-cuticular group followed by
stapled and interrupted skin closure group, though statistically there was no difference.
Conclusion: In this we found that time required for skin closure (in seconds) was least in
stapled skin closure group while pain and POSAS score was minimum in sub-cuticular skin
closure group. Wound infection was present maximum and minimum among sub-cuticular
and interrupted skin closure group respectively