The Wound Repair of Lacerations Nursing Essay       1200w

Background: The aim for this dissertation is to undertake a current systematic literature review to ascertain the comparison of Tissue adhesive (TA) and sutures used for wound repair on traumatic lacerations. To evaluate both the advantages and disadvantages of the two selected wound closure methods.

 Management of these lacerations firstly involves cleaning the wound appropriately and then closing the wound edges until natural healing occurs. Without proper closure, the patient is at risk of increased infection and excessive scar formation, which is often referred to as unsightly and dysfunctional appearance. This could result in a poor cosmetic outcome for the patient (Hollander and Singer, 1999, p.356).

Traditionally, closure of these lacerations has been accomplished using sutures (needle and thread), which either dissolve after a period of time or require a second visit to the primary care centre for removal. The insertion of sutures can be painful and will often require a local anaesthetic (LA) agent to reduce this pain. Local infiltration of the wound with LA itself can be painful as this is also involves a needle. Skin adhesives are a liquid monomer that once applied quickly forms a strong bond over the approximated edges. In the past only small selected wounds have been closed using TA’s.

Method: A systematic review of literature was performed using a wide range of sources, complemented by a hand search of key journals. Databases including Pubmed, Cinahl, Science Direct, Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were used. Key words were searched using the following terms: Tissue adhesive, sutures and lacerations. In turn a critical appraisal skills programme (CASP) tool was used to help make sense of all the literature researched for this review.