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Treatment of scalp lacerations with a hair apposition technique reduced scarring, pain, and procedure duration compared with suturing

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QUESTION: Is a new technique of treating scalp lacerations (the hair apposition technique [HAT]) as effective as standard suturing for wound healing, complications, and pain?

Design

Randomised (allocation concealed), unblinded, controlled trial with follow up at 1 week.

Setting

The emergency departments (EDs) of 2 tertiary care hospitals in Singapore.

Patients

189 patients of any age (mean age 32 y, 74% men) with linear non-stellate lacerations of the scalp that were <10 cm in length and with scalp hair >3 cm in length. Exclusion criteria were severely contaminated wounds, actively bleeding wounds that did not stop bleeding after ≥5 minutes of applied pressure, and unstable vital signs or neurological status requiring priority resuscitation. 188 patients (99%) were included in the analysis.

Intervention

96 patients were allocated to the HAT. Wounds were cleansed according to …

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Footnotes

  • For correspondence: Dr M EH Ong, Department of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore. gaeoeh{at}sgh.com.sg

  • Abstract and commentary also appear in Evidence-Based Medicine

  • Source of funding: tissue adhesive (Histoacryl Blue) provided by B Braun (Melsungen, Germany). .