Patients in the small bites group had fascial closures sutured with more stitches than those in the large bites group ( mean number of stitches 45 [ SD 12 ] vs 25 [ 10 ] ; p < 00001 ) , a higher ratio of suture length to wound length ( 50 [ 15 ] vs 43 [ 14 ] ; p < 00001 ) and a longer closure time ( 14 [ 6 ] vs 10 [ 4 ] min ; p < 00001 ) .