ABSTRACT
To study mechanical and clinical results of Vicryl rapide for skin closure in pediatric orthopaedic patients. Materials and Methods: A mechanical study was performed with four groups of 38 pieces of Vicryl rapide 5 cm. length 3/0 were tested in maximum load, stress, strain, energy, elastic and elongation under Shimadzu universal testing machine, in dry and wet by water, day 1 and 14, with and without knot. The descriptive clinical study was performed in 166 children,109 boys, 57 girls, mean age 6 years old, follow up in 2 years. The surgeon’ s perspective in knot - security, handling, breaking strength, wound healing and the parents’ perspective in satisfaction of the scar were recorded. Results: The mechanical study showed that there was no significant statistical difference in strength between Vicryl rapide 3/0 left at room temperature from day 1 to 14 in both the dry and wet groups (P = 0.698) compared max load. There was significant statistical difference in strength between Vicryl rapide 3/0 with knot and without knot. The breaking point occurred at the knot (P < 0.001). In the clinical study, the surgeon used the Vicryl rapide with good knot-security, sufficient-handling and fairly good breaking strength. The infection rate was 1.2% with no wound disruption, no stitched off procedure. The parents’ satisfaction was 95.2% Conclusion: Vicryl rapide can be very useful for skin closure in pediatric orthopaedic patients. There is no need for stitched off and reduces the cost and fear for the children. There is also high satisfaction with resulting scar.