Simple Intraoperative Technique to Improve Wound Edge Approximation for Residents.

Among the variables associated with surgical outcomes, cosmesis is important to patients and challenging to the early-learning resident. We offer a technique that allows alignment of wound edges by intraoperatively using a suture to determine where to place the next needle bite. This technique can be used to correct for variation in surface angle and malalignment with altered skin tension that is encountered during routine surgery and can be applied to intermediate and complex closures.