Comperative analysis of unilateral cleft lip closure using absorbable and nonabsorbable sutures: a randomised clinical study

Aim: Patients with cleft lip usually undergo multiple procedures that require hospitalization resulting in emotional stress to their family members. Young patients often require sedation or general anesthesia (GA) for suture removal on a sensitive area to prevent disruption of the repair. In this study, we compared absorbable and nonabsorbable sutures for primary cleft lip repair.Methods: Patients with cleft lip who presented to Smile Train Unit, Child Hospital and Research Institute, Nagpur, India, were randomly assigned to two groups and underwent surgical repair using either Vicryl Rapid suture (Group 1) or Prolene suture (Group 2). Patients were followed up at 1 month, 6 months, and 1 year. Photographs of the patients were obtained at these visits and rated using a validated 100-mm cosmesis visual analogue scale (VAS) by three people (social worker, surgeon, and patient’s mother). A VAS score of 15 mm or greater was considered as clinically important difference.Results: A total of 60 patients were enrolled in this study, and they were equally divided into two groups. There was no difference in age, race, sex, wound length, number of sutures, and layered repair rates between the groups. The average age of the patient was 3 months. There was no significant difference in the rates of infection which was 6% in this study, wound dehiscence, and hypertrophic scar formation. No significant difference was found in cosmetic outcome in both the mean VAS score of 90.3 in Group 1 and 91.7 in Group 2.Conclusion: Absorbable sutures are a viable alternative to nonabsorbable sutures in the repair of primary cleft lip repair. We prefer absorbable sutures because they do not require removal under GA or sedation