The practice of suturing wounds of the body at an early date after injury is at present arousing an active interest among surgeons. The procedure is achieving increased success, undoubtedly because of a better knowledge of the exact nature of war injuries, of a better surgical technic involved, and of a proper use of antiseptics.
If early suturing can be accomplished, the benefits are obvious: the healing process is materially shortened, many unsightly scars are avoided, and the patient undergoes a briefer period of convalescence.
There has always been a considerable divergence of opinion in regard to the most suitable time for the closure of facial wounds. Some surgeons have recommended early suturing on the grounds that undue contraction of the tissues was forestalled by bringing the lacerated borders together and that subsequent elaborate plastic operations were to a great extent evaded. Others favored late suturing at a time when