The reduction in costs per patient of switching from the standard non-dissolving sutures was Can$ 49.60 for switching to tissue adhesive and Can$ 37.90 for dissolving sutures. The cost of parent follow-up was a major reason for the difference. Parental costs per patient were $26.28 for the non-dissolving sutures and no parental costs were incurred for the other 2 methods. Dissolving sutures are more costly to use than tissue adhesives. On the basis of 620 simple facial lacerations per year seen at the Children's Hospital, dissolving sutures and tissue glue would save $23,498 and $30,752 respectively, over the conventional non-dissolving sutures. Some common costs were excluded from the analysis.