Effects of Botulinum Toxin on Improving Facial Surgical Scars: A Prospective, Split-Scar, Double-Blind, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Early intervention might improve the quality of surgical scars. Botulinum toxin type A has been shown to improve surgical scars in the past decade. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of botulinum toxin type A on surgical facial scars. In this prospective, split-scar, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, 16 consecutive patients who underwent facial surgery between June and October of 2015 were enrolled. Botulinum toxin type A was injected randomly into half of each surgical wound closure immediately after surgery. The scars were assessed independently by two plastic surgeons at a 6-month follow-up visit using the Vancouver Scar Scale and the visual analogue scale. The scar width was also measured. Fourteen patients completed the study. The visual analogue scale score and scar width measurements revealed a significant improvement in appearance and narrower scars for the botulinum toxin type A-treated halves of the scars (p = 0.046 and p = 0.001, respectively). The mean Vancouver Scar Scale score was 4.68 for the botulinum toxin type A-injected group and 5.24 for the control group (p = 0.15). In addition, the Vancouver Scar Scale height score was significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.008). This study demonstrates that early postsurgical botulinum toxin injections can produce better, narrower, and flatter facial surgical scars. Therapeutic, II.