Comparison of Leukosan SkinLink with surgical suture for traumatic laceration repair: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Leukosan SkinLink (LS), which combines non-woven textile strips and tissue adhesive, offers the advantage of atraumatic treatment while effectively shortening the procedure time. We hypothesized that wound closure would be faster with LS than with surgical suture (SS) and the wound infection and dehiscence would be similar. METHODS: A prospective, open label, single-center, randomized controlled trial was performed. Between November 2014 and April 2016, 49 patients with traumatic lacerations who presented to the emergency department were eligible for study inclusion. RESULTS: The mean wound closure time was significantly lower in the LS group than in the SS group (1.48 ± 0.2 seconds vs 8.8 ± 3.6 minutes, P < .001). After adjusting the wound closure time according to the lacerations length, the time remained significantly lower in the LS group than in the SS group (1.0 ± 0.8 seconds vs 5.03 ± 2.5minutes, P < .001). During follow-up for 14 days, no significant differences in dehiscence and wound infection were observed between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: Wound closure was approximately 4minutes faster with LS and there were no differences in wound infection and dehiscence rates. Thus, the LS could be used as a timesaving suture technique for acute traumatic lacerations in emergency department (ED). TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02333877