Chana 1993.

Methods	RCT Methods to control for contributory patient factors: none described
Participants	Age: not reported Gender: not reported Type of incision: no group‐wise data were reported; overall: transverse 58.8%, vertical 20.6%, oblique 20.6% Type of surgery: emergent 55.9% (overall) Contamination classification of included participants: contaminated: 64.7% (overall) Pre‐operative antibiotic use: no information provided Prognostic patient factors: Group 1: malnutrition 53.0% Group 2: malnutrition 58.8% Inclusion criteria: infants and children < 12 years who underwent laparotomy Exclusion criteria: none explicitly mentioned
Interventions	Comparisons reported: Group 1 Suture: polyglactin‐910 (multifilament, fast absorbable) Suturing technique: interrupted, 'figure‐of‐eight' Closure method: mass Group 2: Sutures: polyglactin‐910 (multifilament, fast absorbable) Suturing technique: continuous Closure method: layered Surgeon characteristics: no information provided
Outcomes	Incisional hernia: no definition provided Follow‐up duration: unclear duration Wound infection: no definition provided Wound dehiscence: no definition provided Suture sinus or fistula: no definition provided
Notes	Incisions in group 1 included upper transverse and midline. Incisions in group 2 included transverse, subcostal and paramedian Hernia data excluded from analysis due to unclear follow‐up duration
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	"...randomly allocated..."
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding (performance bias and detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not reported
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No losses to follow‐up were reported
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	There was no evidence of selective reporting
Other bias	Low risk	The study appears to be free of other sources of bias