Knotless Versus Conventional Sutures for Wound Closure in Cerebral Palsy Multilevel Surgery

This study compares two standard ways of closing surgical incisions in children and adults with cerebral palsy who are having multilevel surgery on both legs (single-event multilevel surgery, or SEMLS). Each participant serves as their own control: all study incisions on one leg, chosen at random, are closed with knotless barbed sutures, and the matching incisions on the other leg are closed with conventional knotted sutures. All sutures used have an antibacterial (triclosan) coating. The main question is whether knotless barbed sutures shorten the time needed to close each incision. The study also compares wound complications, such as infection and wound opening, and scar appearance, rated from photographs by masked reviewers and by patients or caregivers, over the 6 months after surgery.