Description

Surgical staples are used reluctantly in lower extremity plastic surgery. They are useful for rapid wound closure when operating time is of concern and when cosmetic closure is not an important issue. The potential benefits of surgical staples is that they may facilitate wound healing by everting the wound edges but in general, are poorly tolerated and require staple removal instruments and tend to leave railroad track scars. Staples are frequently used for securing split thickness skin grafts and, in this case, are superior to sutures.