A novel skin closure device accelerates early cosmesis in orthopaedic surgical incisions: a randomised controlled trial.

Objective: Cosmesis of surgical incisions can greatly impact postoperative patient satisfaction. This study aimed to compare the rate and overall cosmetic improvement of orthopaedic surgical incisions between conventional suture closure and a novel skin closure device.

Method: In this single-blind, randomised, prospective controlled trial, a consecutive series of patients undergoing orthopaedic sports medicine procedures of the knee, shoulder and elbow were randomised to undergo wound closure via either conventional suture or a micro-anchor skin closure device (BandGrip; BandGrip, US). Wounds were stratified by incision length (small ≤2cm and large >2cm). Wound cosmesis was evaluated by two blinded observers' ratings according to the Hollander Wound Evaluation Scale (HWES) at two weeks, two months and one year postoperatively. For both small and large incisions, mean HWES was compared between groups at each timepoint.

Results: A total of 149 incisions were evaluated from 83 patients, including 111 incisions ≤2cm and 38 incisions >2cm. Among incisions ≤2cm, HWES ratings were significantly improved at two weeks and two months postoperatively for incisions closed with a micro-anchor skin closure device, whereas no significant differences between treatment groups were detected at one year postoperatively. Among incisions measuring >2cm (mean incision length = 7.74cm), mean HWES ratings were improved using the micro-anchor adhesive device at two months postoperatively, while HWES ratings were comparable at one year postoperatively.

Conclusion: A novel micro-anchor skin closure device achieves comparable cosmetic outcomes to conventional suture and may reach satisfactory cosmesis more rapidly following orthopaedic sports medicine surgery.