Study of Different Methods of Midline Laparotomy Incision Closure and their Outcomes

Background: The closure of such a laparotomy wound is important to minimize the postoperative complications like wound pain, infection, dehiscence and incisional hernia. Aims: The objectives of this study was to study the various techniques of midline laparotomy incision closure and their outcomes like wound dehiscence, wound infection and incisional hernia up to six months. Materials and Methods: A total of 100 patients who were operated for midline laparotomy were included as subject material after they satisfied the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Most common indication of laparotomy in the study was gastric ulcer perforation. Incidence rate of surgical site infection, wound dehiscence and incisional hernia was lower in cases of smaller bite length. Incidence rate of surgical site infection wound dehiscence and incisional hernia was lower with continuous suturing. Conclusion: The study results showed that best technique for midline laparotomy incision closure is small bite continuous suturing with mass closure. The small bites technique with continuous suturing showed better results than small bite technique with interrupted suturing. Present study thus recommends that small bite continuous suturing with mass closure should be considered as the standard closure technique for midline incisions.