Is tissue adhesive a safe alternative to skin stapler for port site closure after laparoscopic surgery?

Background: Wound management is fundamental to the practice of surgery. Different type of materials is available for wound closure like skin stapler, tissue glue, sutures and tapes etc. Surgical adhesives can simplify skin closure and problem inherent to suture use can be avoided. An attempt was thus made to compare tissue adhesive versus skin staplers in port site closure after laparoscopic surgery patients regarding efficacy, safety, postoperative wound complications and scar cosmesis. Methods: The study was carried out on 150 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery. The patients were divided into two groups and results were assessed on the basis of wound complication and cosmesis at 6 weeks. Results: This study demonstrated that the use of tissue glue for skin closure prolonged the overall surgical time but wound related complications and wound cosmesis scores were comparable in both the groups. Conclusions: Tissue adhesive can also be used as an acceptable alternative to skin staplers particularly for small incisions like port site closure.