SynthesisMedicine2020
Surgical wound closure by staples or sutures?: Systematic review.
Synthesis in Medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- The current state of autonomous suturing: a systematic review.Surgical endoscopy · 2024Pooled it
- Optimal primary wound closure methods after thyroid and parathyroid surgery: network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.BJS open · 2023Pooled it
- Incisional negative pressure wound therapy for the prevention of surgical site complications in Paediatric patients with non-idiopathic scoliosis: A randomized clinical trial.International wound journal · 2024Trial
- A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Comparison of Adhesive Wound Closure Devices in an Orthopaedic Patient.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2022Trial
- Plant derived tannic acid-based tissue adhesives: From mechanism to advanced design.Acta biomaterialia · 2026Review
- Safety and Efficacy of Octyl 2-Cyanoacrylate (Dermabond) in Breast Surgery: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- Factors in Surgical Placement and System Design to Reduce Pocket Awareness and Optimize the User Experience of Spinal Cord Stimulators - A Comprehensive Review.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Stapler for corneal transplantation: a hypothesis.Medical hypothesis, discovery & innovation ophthalmology journal · 2025Article
- Orthopedic Skin Closure in South India: Sutures Versus Staples and Their Postoperative Outcomes.Cureus · 2024Article
- Current advancements in therapeutic approaches in orthopedic surgery: a review of recent trends.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Review
- Comparative study of two techniques of laparoscopic burch colposuspension using sutures versus mesh in women with genuine stress urinary incontinence.Arab journal of urology · 2024Article
- The assessment of suture spacing on the esthetic and functional outcomes of skin closures in different age groups.Health science reports · 2023Article
- Complications of extraperitoneal robot-assisted radical prostatectomy in high-risk prostate cancer: A single high-volume center experience.Frontiers in surgery · 2023Article
- Editorial: History, advantages, complications, and limits of minimally invasive urologic pelvic surgery.Frontiers in surgery · 2023Article
- Effect of stapled versus layered skin closure on surgical site occurrences after abdominal wall reconstruction.Surgical endoscopy · 2022Article
- Protocol for an open randomised controlled trial investigating Fibrin Glue in Skin grafts for Skin cancer (FiGSS).BMJ open · 2022Article
- Management of Fournier's gangrene during the Covid-19 pandemic era: make a virtue out of necessity.Basic and clinical andrology · 2022Article
- Parabiosis in Mice to Study Tissue Residency of Immune Cells.Current protocols · 2022Article
- Incidence and risk factor of allergic contact dermatitis to 2-octyl cyanoacrylate and n-butyl cyanoacrylate topical skin adhesives.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo compare the effects of sutures and staples for skin closure of surgical wounds. MATERIAL AND
methodsWe included published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cluster-randomized trials comparing staples with sutures. Patients were adults (aged 18 years or over) who had undergone any type of surgery. The primary outcomes were risk of overall and severe wound infection. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, readmission rate, adverse events, patient satisfaction with cosmetic results, postoperative pain.
resultsForty-two very low to low quality RCTs with a total of 11,067 patients were included. Sutures resulted in slightly fewer overall wound infections (4.90%) compared to staples (6.75%) but it is uncertain whether there is a difference between the groups (risk ratio [RR] 1.20, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.80-1.79; patients = 9864; studies = 34; I = 70%). The evidence was also insufficient to state a difference in terms of severe wound infection (staples 1.4% vs sutures 1.3%; RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.61-1.89; patients = 3036; studies = 17; I = 0%), grade of satisfaction (RR 0.99, 95% CI 0.91-1.07; patients = 3243; studies = 14; I = 67%) and hospital stay. Staples may increase the risk of adverse events (7.3% for staples vs 3.5% for sutures; RR 2.00, 95% CI 1.44-2.79; patients = 6246; studies = 21; I = 33%), readmission rate (RR 1.28, 95% CI 0.18-9.05; patients = 2466; studies = 5; I = 66%) and postoperative pain (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.41,95%CI -0.35 to 1.16; I = 88%, patients = 390 patients, studies = 5).
conclusionsDue to the lack of high quality evidence, we could not state if sutures are better than staples in terms of wound infection, readmission rate, adverse events, and postoperative pain. With a low quality of evidence, sutures reduce postoperative pain and improve grade of satisfaction with the cosmetic outcome.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.