635 Compression Garments with Silicone Improve Hypertrophic Scars Compared to Compression Garments Alone: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The management of hypertrophic scars is one of the major challenges facing healthcare providers in the treatment of burn patients. Two of the mainstay noninvasive clinical practices for hypertrophic scars is the utilization of pressure garments and garments with Silicone gel sheeting. Here, we present a comparison of the effectiveness of compression garments alone and garments with silicone in the treatment of a large pediatric patient population with hypertrophic scars. Methods A retrospective study was performed to compare the effectiveness of compression garments with silicone versus compression garments without silicone in the treatment of pediatric hypertrophic scars. Included in this study were patients who received at least 12 months of follow-up treatment with silicone or non-silicone compression garments between 2013 and 2018. Modified Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) scores were analyzed 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-injury/surgery for each scar. Descriptive statistics and t tests were used to summarize and compare the total VSS scores between the two groups. In addition, descriptive and ANOVA statistics were performed to compare the effectiveness of silicone compression treatment for scars located on different regions of the body. Results In total, the compression garment with silicone group included 99 scars of 70 different patients and the non-silicone group included 28 scars of 19 different patients. Before-after total VSS scores for silicone group decreased from 4.11 (SD, 1.522) to 1.47 (SD, 1.268) compared to a decrease from 3.27 (SD, 1.117) to 1.80 (SD, 1.380) for compression group after 12 months of treatment (P< 0.05). ANOVA analysis revealed no statistically significant difference between silicone’s effectiveness on scars located in different regions of the body based on total VSS score after 12 months of treatment (F(4, 99)=1.47, p< 0.05). Conclusions Compression garments with silicone are more effective in treating hypertrophic scars than garments without silicone. The effectiveness of silicone is independent of the scar location assuming sufficient contact and coverage. Applicability of Research to Practice This retrospective study supports the use Silicone compression garments for hypertrophic scars in pediatric patients and is completely applicable to medical practice.