Table 1. Characteristics of included studies.

Study	Level of evidence	Design	Patients, no. UBS CS	Suture technique	Materials of CS	PR	Match factors*	Follow up # , mo.	Quality score
Desai et al[14]	3b	P	113 76	VV	3–0 Monocryl	Y	1,2,3,7,10,11	3	★★★★★
Hemal et al[15]	3b	RP	25 25	VV	3–0 Monocryl	N	1,2,5,6,7,9,10	6	★★★★★★
Manganiello et al[16]	3b	P	35 35	VV	3–0 Monocryl	N	1,2,3,5,6,7,10,11	5	★★★★★★
Massoud et al[17]	3b	P	40 40	BS with VV CS with IS	3–0 Vicryl	N	1,4,5,9	12	★★★★★
Polland et al[18]	3b	RP	42 42	VV	3–0 Monocryl	Y	1,2,7,9	9.4 (7–13)	★★★★★★★
Sammon et al[19]	2b	RCT	33 31	VV	3–0 Monocryl	Y	1,2,3,4,6,7,8,10	9.1	RCT
Tewari et al[20]	3b	P	50 50	VV	3–0 Monocryl	Y	1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10,11	NA	★★★★★★★
Williams et al[21]	2b	RCT	45 36	VV	3–0 Vicryl	N	1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10,11	NA	RCT
Zorn et al[22]	2b	RCT	34 34	VV	3–0 Monocryl	Y	1,2,3.4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11	6.2	RCT

UBS = unidirectional barbed suture; CS = conventional non-barbed suture; PR = posterior reconstruction; VV = Van Velthoven technique; IS = interrupted suture; P = prospective; RP = retrospective design, prospective data collection; RCT = randomized control trial; Y = yes; N = no; NA = data not available. 3–0 Monocryl = 3–0 Monocryl (poliglecaprone-25, J and J Medical, Somerville, NJ, USA) monofilament suture. 3–0 Vicryl = 3–0 Vicryl (Polyglactin-910; Ethicon, J and J Medical, Somerville, NJ,USA) braided suture.

^#Mean and median.

*Matching: 1 = age; 2 = PSA; 3 = body mass index; 4 = AUA-SS/IPSS, American Urological Association Symptom Score; 5 = prostate volume; 6 = Biopsy/Pathology Gleason score; 7 = clinical/Pathological stage; 8 = Medical history; 9 = single surgeon; 10 = estimated blood loss; 11 = positive margin rates.