Feb 15, 2010

Study promotes stitches, not staples for C-section surgery

According to a new study performed by American doctors, pregnant women who have had elected to undergo C-section deliveries are less likely to endure complications from the surgery if their wound is closed using sutures rather than staples.

Researchers at the Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania, examined more than 400 women who underwent C-section deliveries and interviewed them two to four weeks after their procedure, HealthDay News reports.

Their data revealed that wound separation occurred in 16.8 percent of the women whose wounds were closed with staples, compared to just 3.6 percent of those treated with stitches.

Overall complications were experienced by 21.8 percent of the staples group and only 9.1 percent of those given stitches.

The median surgery time for procedures performed with stables was 49 minutes, compared to 57 minutes for methods using sutures.

Because C-section scars are common following caesarean births, regardless of the technique used to close the wound, some patients opt to use silicone gel sheeting to reduce the appearance of the scar as quickly as two weeks following the surgery.
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