Research Article Comparison of Subcuticular Suture Materials in Cesarean Skin Closure

Copyright © 2015 Pınar Solmaz Hasdemir et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Aim. Comparison of the rate of wound complications, pain, and patient satisfaction based on used subcuticular suture material. Methods. A total of 250 consecutive women undergoing primary and repeat cesarean section with low transverse incision were prospectively included. The primary outcome was wound complication rate including infection, dehiscence, hematoma, and hypertrophic scar formationwithin a 6-week period after operation. Secondary outcomes were skin closure time, the need for use of additional analgesic agent, pain score on numeric rating scale, cosmetic score, and patient scar satisfaction scale.Results.Absorbable polyglactin was used in 108 patients and nonabsorbable polypropylene was used in 142 patients. Wound complication rates were similar in primary and repeat cesarean groups based on the type of suture material. Skin closure time is longer in nonabsorbable suturematerial group in both primary and repeat cesarean groups.Therewas no difference between groups in terms of postoperative pain, need for additional analgesic use, late phase pain, and itching at the scar. Although the cosmetic results tended to be better in the nonabsorbable group in primary surgery patients, there was no significant difference in the visual satisfaction of the patients. Conclusions. Absorbable and nonabsorbable suture materials are comparable in cesarean section operation skin closure. 1