Question

What is the best way to repair traumatic skin lacerations in children and adults?

Bottom Line

Pain scores and procedure time significantly favoured tissue adhesives over standard wound care (stitches, staples or adhesive tape). There was no significant difference in cosmetic appearance between tissue adhesive and standard wound care on either a Cosmetic Visual Analogue Scale or Wound Evaluation Score.

Caveat

There were small but statistically significant risk differences for dehiscence (favouring standard wound care, NNH 25*) and erythema (favouring tissue adhesives, NNH10). Although there are a few different types of glue available (based on butlycyanoacrylate and octylcyanoacrylate), no one glue seems to be superior. (* NNH = number needed to treat to cause harm in one individual.)

Context

Lacerations need to be closed to ensure proper healing and to prevent infection or unattractive scarring. This is the first
systematic review comparing glue with standard wound closure.