Comparison of Scar Results and Time for Closures of Scalp Defects Via Pulley Sutures or Layered Repairs

Henry Ford Health

Status: Completed

Conditions: Scar

Treatments: Procedure: Pulley stitches; Procedure: Intermediate Repair

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02744950

SK1234

Details and patient eligibility

About

Surgical defects on the scalp require closure via various techniques of suture placement. A traditional technique requires both dermal (deep) and epidermal (superficial) placement of sutures to close the defect; this is referred to as intermediate or complex linear repair. However, the scalp is a location with high tension, and thus the closures take an hour or longer to perform. A type of suture placement referred to as the "pulley stitch" requires placement of a few stitches along the defect. The pulley stitch can be used in areas of high tension to close a large defect. The purpose of this study is to compare the scar results and time taken to perform scalp closures via only pulley stitches or via intermediate/complex linear repairs.

To my knowledge, no such study has been performed to compare the two techniques. Such a study would be useful in demonstrating comparable scar appearance and reduce the time to perform scalp closures.

Enrollment: 21 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Age greater than 18 years
2. Ability to understand risks, benefits, and alternatives to the study and to be able to give an informed consent
3. Lesions such as skin cancer or benign lesions on the scalp amenable to surgical excision or to MOHS surgical technique
4. Frontal scalp defects defined as frontal hair line to crown of scalp
5. Scalp defect size of 2cm - 8 cm

Exclusion criteria

1. Patients who tend to form keloids or hypertrophic scars
2. Patients with a history of scleroderma or morphea
3. Pregnant or breast-feeding females
4. Patients whose surgical defects require flap closures

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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21 participants in 2 patient groups

Intermediate/complex repair

Active Comparator group

Description:

This arm will have closures of scalp defects with deep and superficial suture placement.

Treatment:

Procedure: Intermediate Repair

Pulley stitches

Experimental group

Description:

This arm of the study will have only pulley stitches to close the entire defect.

Treatment:

Procedure: Pulley stitches