• N Göktas, O Karcioglu, F Coskun, S Karaduman, and A Menderes.
• Dokuz Eylül University Medical School, Department of Emergency Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
• Eur J Emerg Med. 2002 Jun 1;9(2):155-8.

AbstractThe objective of this study was to compare the applications of Histoacryl Blue (HAB) and suturing regarding cosmetic outcome, cost and patient and physician satisfaction in the emergency department (ED). A total of 92 consecutive adult patients with lacerations equal to or shorter than 5 cm were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized to either HAB or suturing. Ten-day and three-month cosmetic outcomes were evaluated via visual analogue scale (VAS) by a blinded surgeon. Cosmetic outcome, cost and patient and physician satisfaction of both groups were compared. Only 52 patients completed the follow-up at three months. Twenty-eight had been repaired with sutures and 24 with HAB. The differences regarding ten-day and three-month cosmetic outcome scales between the patients repaired with HAB and sutures were not statistically significant. Application of HAB resulted in greater satisfaction of the patient and the physician (p=0.007 and p=0.0001, respectively). Costs of HAB were significantly lower than sutures (p=0.0001). It is concluded that HAB is a cheaper method of laceration repair and results in greater satisfaction of both patients and physicians, while cosmetic outcomes were comparable. These results suggest that HAB is a viable alternative to suturing for selected lacerations in the ED.

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