Aesthetic effect of silicone gel on surgical scars in Asians.
BACKGROUND
Scars on exposed areas are a major concern among Asian populations because of their conspicuousness. Size, color, or whether the scar is hypopigmented or hyperpigmented matters little. Silicone gel is well known for the prevention and induction of better maturation of hypertrophic and keloid scars. However, its aesthetic effect on normal surgical scars has not been considered.


METHODS
Clinical evaluation of scars was performed in 40 patients. All the 40 patients underwent clean and minor surgery of the exposed area, such as scar revision, by 1 plastic surgeon. Twenty of the 40 patients did not apply any adjunctive material for scar management and were grouped as the control. The other 20 patients applied a silicone gel sheet for 12 hours a day for 3 months. Three assessment criteria, pigmentation, vascularity, and height, were evaluated by photographic assessment of the scars at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively and scored by 3 plastic surgeons. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to verify any significant differences in the previously mentioned 3 parameters between the 2 groups and parameter scores at each follow-up period.


RESULTS
Two patients were excluded from the study because of the development of rashes on the areas covered by the silicone gel sheet. There was no statistical significance between the groups at postoperative 2 weeks and 1 month in pigmentation and redness. For evaluation of height, there was statistical significance (P = 0.024) at postoperative 1 month. However, there were statistically significant differences in all the assessment criteria at postoperative 3 months between the groups: pigmentation, P = 0.0002; vascularity, P = 0.0002; and height, P < 0.0001.


CONCLUSIONS
The silicone gel sheet has a favorable aesthetical effect for normally created surgical scars in the Asians. Its application can reduce the conspicuousness of scars more rapidly than without.
Rhee
Suk-Hyun
SH
Institute for Human Tissue Restoration, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
Koh
Sung-Hoon
SH
Lee
Dong-Won
DW
Park
Beyoung-Yun
BY
Kim
Yong-Oock
YO
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056910:Republic of Korea; D020034:Silicone Gels / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D020034:Silicone Gels