Comparison of Tissue Adhesive Glue with Subcuticular Absorbable Suture for Skin Closure Following Thyroid Surgery: A single-blinded randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare the skin closure time, postoperative pain and the scar outcome between tissue adhesive and sub-cuticular sutures in thyroid surgery. METHODS: This study was conducted in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, a tertiary care hospital in India from March 2017 to December 2019. Adult patients undergoing thyroid surgery were included while those with previous neck surgery, history of keloids/hypertrophic scars and those undergoing concomitant neck dissections were excluded. Following platysma closure, patients were randomised into two groups (tissue adhesive and subcuticular sutures) using the Serially Numbered Opaque Sealed Envelopes technique. A sample size of 64 in each group was calculated for this prospective, single-blinded and randomised controlled trial. The primary outcome was the skin closure time. The secondary outcomes were postoperative pain at 24 hours and scar scoring at 1(st) and 3(rd) postoperative month. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software. RESULTS: A total sample of 124 patients were included in this study, with 61 patients assigned to the suture group and 63 assigned to the tissue adhesive group. The median skin closure time and postoperative pain was significantly lower in the tissue adhesive group as compared to the suture group (P <0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in scar outcome at the 1(st) or 3(rd) months between both groups (P = 0.088 and 0.137, respectively). There were no wound-related complications in either group. When a subgroup analysis was conducted, no difference was seen in the scar outcome or wound-related complications in patients with comorbidities. There were no instances of allergic contact dermatitis to the tissue adhesive. CONCLUSION: The use of tissue adhesive leads to lower operative time and less postoperative pain in thyroid surgeries. The scar outcome is comparable between tissue adhesives and subcuticular sutures.