Surgical management of acute lacerations

Acute lacerations are a common occurrence in everyday life that can, in most cases, be well managed in the primary care setting.

The aim of this article is to describe the principles of surgical repair techniques for simple linear lacerations. Wound defects that require flaps or skin grafts necessitate an additional skill set beyond the scope of this article.

With prior basic training in performing instrument ties, additional information regarding suture technique, selection and aftercare enable the surgical repair of simple acute lacerations in the general practice setting.