Application of 3D transparent facemasks in long-term outpatient rehabilitation of facial scars after burns: a retrospective cohort study of improved appearance of target scars with different healing time.

Abstract

Severe facial burns may cause scarring problems and affect living quality of patients. With the advent of 3D facemasks, it is being used to treat facial scars; however, its efficacy must be confirmed by adequate studies. A retrospective analysis of 26 patients who visited rehabilitation outpatient clinic from 2017 to 2022. Patients were separated into two groups based on the time to healing (TTH) following burn injury: early healing group (TTH ≤ 21 days) and late healing group (TTH > 21 days). To compare treatment outcomes and differences between the two groups, 3D facemask application was assessed using the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS), patient satisfaction, and complications. In both groups, there were significant improvements in the total VSS scores (P<0.01) and each VSS subscore (P<0.01). These scar characteristics improved over time as the treatment progressed. Compared with the late healing group, the early healing group had more obvious effects on improving scar pigmentation (P<0.05) and vascularity (P<0.05) at similar assessment time points after burns. At the last assessment, there was a significant difference in total VSS scores between groups (P=0.009). For the early and late healing groups, respectively, the mean gradient value (SE) of the total VSS scores was 1.550 (0.373) and 1.283 (0.224) over the course of the treatment periods. 3D facemasks are effective in the rehabilitation of facial scars caused by burns, which should be used for prevention and treatment in the initial stages of scar development.