Staple versus suture closure of skin incisions in a pig model.

The purpose of this study was to find out whether skin staple closure was a reasonable alternative to conventional nylon suture closure. Mechanical strength, histologic characteristics and time of closure were compared in skin incisions made on the backs of Yorkshire swine. The results showed that stapled and sutured wounds have similar mechanical strength up to 21 days. Stapled wounds are substantially narrower and are associated with less inflammation than sutured wounds. Staple closure is much less time-consuming than suture closure.