When suturing a wound, which measures can reduce tension?

• A. Use deep/buried sutures
• B. Undermine/undercut
• C. Use more sutures
• D. All of the above

Answer: (D)

Reducing tension on wound edges is essential for proper healing and minimizing scar formation. You achieve this by distributing the forces away from the skin surface and allowing the tissue to align with less pulling.

Deep or buried sutures anchor in the deeper tissue so the force of closure is shared by stronger layers, not just the skin. By placing sutures deeper, you help hold the wound edges without concentrating tension at the superficial layer.

Undermining releases the skin and subcutaneous attachments around the wound, letting the edges come together more easily. This reduces the amount of pulling needed on any single point and helps the edges lie flat.

Using more sutures spreads the load along the wound, so no single suture bears excessive tension. This distributes tension across multiple points and along a greater length of the wound.

Because each of these approaches contributes to lowering tension, the best choice is all of the above.