A method of closing a thoracic incision includes providing a barbed suture and threading the suture around first and second ribs of a chest wall in a generally S-shaped configuration to close an incision positioned therebetween. The barbed suture is threaded through the chest wall by introducing the barbed suture through a first terminal tissue layer and around a surface of the first rib that is facing a second terminal tissue layer, passing the barbed suture across the incision and around a surface of the second rib that is facing the first terminal tissue layer, and withdrawing the barbed suture through the second terminal tissue layer. A second barbed suture may be threaded through the chest wall in a complementary S-shaped configuration in which the second barbed suture enters and exits the chest wall through the opposing terminal tissue layer from that of the first barbed suture.
