So your child has been cut.  S/he is writhing in pain and anxiety and lives in deathly fear of needles.  The doctor tells you that you have options.  Your child can be strapped down, sedated or… the laceration can be repaired with some variety of ‘medical glue’?  Let’s briefly look at what it means to use a skin adhesive for laceration repair.

• The main advantage to skin glue is that it is quickly applied and virtually painless to use if applied correctly.  Occasionally a small amount of burning will be felt after application.
• There are no needles, papooses, or putting the child to sleep.
• The main disadvantage to skin glue is that sometimes the cosmetic result may not be as good as with stitches, especially if the laceration is in an area of high skin tension or if it’s in an area where the child can pick the wound apart.  It is very important to understand that if you can’t control your child to the extent to if s/he picks at the wound, you can’t come back and get stitches later.
• In short, in most instances it’s as good of an option as stitches.

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