A Comparative Study of Scar Quality and Safety According to Suture Materials Following Excision of Benign Tumors

Due to the rise in the incidence of giant benign tumors such as lipoma, excision of benign tumors on body have been performed by plastic surgeons. After excision of giant benign tumors, efforts should be include with a goal of achieving optimal cosmetic outcomes after subcutaneous and dermal sutures may be important to improve scar quality because suture methods might influence the final aesthetic outcome. Various absorbable suture materials have been used for tension-relieving deep sutures. Subcutaneous and dermal sutures using Polygalctin 910 (Vicryl®, Ethicon, Johnson and Johnson Ltd.), which is absorbable, synthetic, braided suture composed of a copolymer made from 90% glycolide and 10% L-lactide or polydioxanone (PDS®, Ethicon), which is composed of polyester and p-dioxanone with skin suture using polypropylene (Prolene®, Ethicon) have been commonly used after excision of tumors. Although these sutures are particularly useful where combination of absorbable suture and extended wound support for up to six weeks is desirable, strong and secure skin sutures may be needed to improve scar quality following excision of tumors on back and abdomen due to their thick skins. However, increased wound closure times are their drawbacks. To overcome these drawbacks, a new subcutaneous suture material composed of polydioxanone, StratafixTM Spiral PDS II® and a new skin suture material using combination of 2-octyl cyanoacrylate and polyester mesh (Dermabond Prineo®, Ethicon) have been developed and skin sutures using combination of these two materials may be an alternative suture method to decrease wound closure times and improve scar quality for better wound closure with high-tension closure, favorable and encouraging results compared to traditional suture methods. Although polyglactin 910, polydioxanone, polypropylene, and combination of 2-octyl cyanoacrylate and polyester mesh have been used in general surgery and neurosurgery, no studies on the clinical outcomes, specifi