title: Horizontal square buried sutures in a two-layered fashion enable direct primary closure for small circular wounds without dog-ears on the face.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dog-ears often lead to lengthening of an excision, and it is desirable to avoid them.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Facial skin, including the subepidermal connective tissue, is flexible and can be used advantageously to minimize dog-ears using a novel buried suture technique.
  
  
  METHODS
  After removing a round lesion, the first horizontal square buried suture (HSBS) was deeply placed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the defect beneath superficial fascia. After the first HSBS was tied, the defect became fusiform but was still largely open. The second HSBS was also placed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the defect but in more superficial fascia and using smaller horizontal buried loops than those of the first deep suture. After the second HSBS in the middle of the dermis was tied, the wound was almost closed without dog-ears. Consequently, few skin sutures were required to finish the operation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using this technique, a small circular or oval defect on the face up to 1 cm in diameter can be closed without any additional excision of the skin and without creating dog-ears.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Tohoku University Hospital, Aoba-ku Sendai, Japan. matsuj@gonryo.med.tohoku.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.forename: Setsuya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aiba
mesh_terms: D005145:Face / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D009506:Nevus / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013536:Suture Techniques