Patient Satisfaction and Cosmetic Outcomes in Adhesive Strip Versus Suture Repair for Simple Facial Lacerations

NCT ID: NCT06550999

Last Updated: 2026-02-12

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 62 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2026-08-31
• Study Completion Date: 2028-05-31

Brief Summary

There are a variety of techniques utilized to close lacerations, including but not limited to, traditional sutures, staples, adhesive strips, and skin glue. While closing open wounds and preventing infection are the primary goals of laceration repair, physicians are also concerned with minimizing scar formation and providing the best cosmetic outcomes for the patient. Specifically, the skin on the face is a sensitive area where cosmetic outcome is of high importance, and several laceration repair techniques have been devised for closing facial wounds.

Sutures have traditionally been used to close wounds in various types of tissue, and it is still very commonly used in the clinical setting. Adhesive strips (also known under the brand names of Steri-Strips, Curi-strips, Nichi-Strips, and Suture Strips) are another method to repair lacerations superficially. Due to their superficial application and ease of use, adhesive strips may help minimize scar formation and may result in less pain and complications for the patient when compared to conventional sutures.

Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine whether repair of small, simple facial lacerations with adhesive strips results in better patient experiences and better cosmetic outcomes than sutures. The investigators hypothesize that wounds repaired with adhesive strip will have higher patient satisfaction scores and better cosmetic outcomes.

Detailed Description

This is a prospective, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial taking place in a single center. Patients will be identified in the emergency room as they present to the hospital and meet eligibility criteria. Following informed consent, patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either the adhesive strip repair or the suture repair group. Randomization will be dictated by a validated online software utilizing the Wichmann-Hill random number generator. A password-protected randomization database that is only accessible to the study team will be utilized.

After randomization to their respective laceration repair group, patients will be surveyed by the study team to assess their experience, satisfaction, and pain scores during the laceration repair. Approximately two months after their initial laceration repair, the patients will be contacted securely via phone call or email to assess if they had any complications and to assess their satisfaction and cosmetic rating of their laceration scar. Additionally, the subjects will be instructed to take pictures and/or videos of their scar and send it securely to the study team via UCI Epic MyChart (or a HIPAA-compliant encrypted email if MyChart is unavailable). These photos and videos will be de-identified and stored securely on a password-encrypted folder where a blinded evaluator will score the scars with a validated scar assessment tool. Patients will be instructed to only take photos/videos of their scar area and not any other major areas of their face that can be identified. Following the conclusion of the study, all patient identifiers and photos/videos will be destroyed to preserve patient privacy.

All survey data will be collected and entered into a REDCap database. Data collection will include demographics, phone/email contact information, patient satisfaction scores with the laceration repair, patient pain scores, patient scar cosmetic rating, presence of complications, and patient responses to questions about their general experience during the laceration repair and healing time period.

Conditions

Facial Laceration

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Adhesive strip repair

In this arm, patients will have their facial laceration properly cleaned and repaired with adhesive strips.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Laceration repair with adhesive strips

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Repair of the patient's facial laceration with adhesive strips

Suture repair

In this arm, patients will have their facial laceration properly cleaned and repaired with sutures of any material.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Laceration repair with sutures

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Repair of the patient's facial laceration with sutures

Interventions

Laceration repair with adhesive strips

Repair of the patient's facial laceration with adhesive strips

Intervention Type: DEVICE

Laceration repair with sutures

Repair of the patient's facial laceration with sutures

Intervention Type: PROCEDURE

Other Intervention Names

Adhesive strips; Steri-Strips; STERI-STRIP ANTIMICROBIAL SKIN CLOS

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• All adult (>18-years-old)
• Small (<2.5 cm) and simple facial lacerations requiring repair

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients less than 18 years old
• Pregnant females
• Incarcerated individuals

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

University of California, Irvine

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jeffry Nahmias, MD

Health Sciences Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Jeffry Nahmias, M.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Irvine

Locations

University of California Irvine

Orange, California, United States

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Jeffry Nahmias, M.D.

Role: CONTACT

jnahmias@hs.uci.edu

714-506-8076

Facility Contacts

Jeffry Nahmias, M.D.

Role: primary

jnahmias@hs.uci.edu

Other Identifiers

4338

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id