Dencker 2006.

Methods	RCT.
Participants	Setting ‐ Department of Normal Obstetrics/Ostra, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. 1139 women 'randomly allocated'. Inclusion criteria ‐ women having a vaginal delivery with laceration or episiotomy that required suturing by a midwife; singleton pregnancy; cephalic presentation and gestation between 34 and 42 weeks. Exclusion criteria ‐ not documented. Parity ‐ primigravida and multigravida. Mean age ‐ not documented. Operator ‐ midwives.
Interventions	Method of repair ‐ both continuous and interrupted suturing techniques were used ‐ each midwife used the suturing technique she preferred. Intervention group (n = 554) ‐ monofilament glycomer 631 (Biosyn) (suture material gauge and size of needle not documented). Comparison group (n = 585) ‐ multifilament polyglycolic acid (Dexon II) (suture material gauge and size of needle not documented).
Outcomes	INCLUDED IN ANALYSIS Short‐term pain ‐ up to day 3 (data not presented in paper). Wound healing ‐ up to day 3 (data not presented in paper). Perineal discomfort/pain ‐ 8 ‐12 weeks postpartum. Wound healing ‐ 8 ‐12 weeks postpartum. Re‐suturing ‐ up to six months postpartum.
Notes	The authors of this study provided additional unpublished data on outcomes.
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Adequate sequence generation?	Low risk	'Random number generator.'
Allocation concealment?	Low risk	Opaque, sealed, serially numbered envelopes.
Blinding? Women	Unclear risk	No details given.
Blinding? Clinical staff	High risk	Difference in suture materials.
Blinding? Outcome assessors	High risk	Difference in suture materials.
Incomplete outcome data addressed? All outcomes	Unclear risk	Drop‐out n = 64 (48 envelopes 'discarded' plus 16 questionnaires were missing substantial data). 93% followed up at 1 ‐ 3 days and 64% at 8 ‐ 12 weeks.
Free of other bias?	Unclear risk	The published paper did not provide information on non significant results; the author provided additional unpublished data on request.