Tissue sparing repair. A new approach to shorten excisional lines

Tissue sparing repair uses primary closure to make a circular or irregular defect into a line. The resultant closure ratio is 1.5:1 without a dog-ear defect for circular closures. Irregular defects will have different closure ratios. Two new suture techniques are used: 1) the horizontal oblique dermal suture, which approximates tissue without undermining and with minimal epidermal wound edge tension; and 2) the apex cutaneous suture, which repairs most dog-ear defects with a suture. Tissue sparing repair may be a useful addition to primary wound closure.