Researchers from Thomas Jefferson University found that using sutures, or stitches, to close a wound post C-section could cut the patient's risk of complications by 57 percent compared to using staples.
Lead author of the study and post-doctoral fellow at Thomas Jefferson University Dhanya Mackeen and her colleagues initiated the study to determine which of the following procedures would better promote the health and well-being of women after giving birth through C-section.
The researchers worked with Lankenau Medical Center, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Thomas Jefferson Hospital to collect data for the study, which involved 746 women who gave birth through C-section. 376 received staples, while 370 had stitches. Researchers considered other factors such as their weight and the number of times they've given birth during the study.
The women were analyzed for wound complications including wound re-opening and infection.
Women who received sutures were 57 percent less likely to develop any wound complications. About 11 percent of those whose incisions were stapled reported wound complications, while only five percent of those who had stitches encountered issues. In addition, those whose incisions were stitched were 80 percent less likely to have re-opened wounds than those who had staples.
"Based on these results, we recommend that C-section incisions be closed with stitches rather than staples," said Vincenzo Berghella, director of Maternal Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University.
Further details of this study were published in the July 10 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
