Nafeesa Naireen1, Rajesh Mithalavalaram Raghavan2, Sasi Malayan Parambil3
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study were to compare the two techniques, skin staplers and conventional sutures in abdominal skin wound closure with respect to the total cost, operative time required, incidence of wound infection, postoperative pain and cosmetic outcome.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted on 100 patients undergoing elective surgery for GI malignancies from December 2013 to May 2015 in the Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Kozhikode. The patients were randomly assigned to closure by suture or staple.
RESULT
The study groups included 50 patients who underwent wound closure by staplers and 50 patients who underwent closure by non-absorbable ethilon sutures. The time taken for wound closure was found to be statistically significant, with staplers requiring five times less duration than conventional sutures. The average cost of using stapler was found to be significantly more expensive than suture. There was no significant difference in post-operative pain between the two groups. The incidence of wound infection was more in stapler group than in suture group although statistically non-significant. The cosmetic outcome with stapler closure was found to be significantly superior to that with sutures.
