Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy between skin suture versus skin stapler in abdominal surgery.

Methods: The present study was conducted on 80 patients, who presented to the in-patient Department of General Surgery, Mamata Medical College. A total of 80 patients were categorized into 2 groups i.e., group A which was conventional suture group and group B which was staple groups with 40 cases in each group. In group A, wound closure was done with Prolene 2-0 cutting body (Lotus) using interrupted sutures. While in group B, wound closure was done with Covidien stapler.

Results: The mean age among staples group was 36.54 years and among sutures group was 34.66 years. Majority of the patients belonged to the age group 30-40 years followed by 40-50 years. In the present study, out of 80 patients, 42 (52.5%) were male and 38 (47.5%) were female. In the present study, out of 80 cases, the commonest type of incision for surgical wound creation was McBurney’s incision: 16 in staplers and 18 in suture group. Midline incision was given in 11 cases in staplers and 14 cases in suture group, inguinal incision was given in 8 cases in staplers and 5 cases in suture group, sub- costal incision was given in 2 cases in each group, and paramedian incision was given in 2 cases in staplers and 1 in suture group. We observed that in staples group, 4 cases presented with clear discharge with grade (III) and 3 cases with purulent discharge with grade (IV) whereas in suture group, clear discharge with grade (III) was seen in 8 cases and purulent discharge with grade (IV) in 6 cases, rest of the cases healed normally or by with mild bruising. Pain while removal of staples or sutures is tabulated by using pain score with <2 and >2 in both the groups. In staples group, pain score was <2 in 90% of patients and in sutures group, it was 10%.

Conclusion: The results indicated that skin closure by stapler can be preferred over conventional skin suture as it is easy to apply, easy application and easy to remove with less pain on removal, easy on pockets of the patients and aesthetically acceptable.