Management of chest keloids

Tae Hwan Park,June Kyu Kim,Choong Hyun Chang,Sang Won Seo

doi:10.1186/1749-8090-6-49

Tae Hwan Park, June Kyu Kim + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1749-8090-6-49

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Abstract

Keloid formation is one of the most challenging clinical problems in wound healing. With increasing frequency of open heart surgery, chest keloid formations are not infrequent in the clinical practice. The numerous treatment methods including surgical excision, intralesional steroid injection, radiation therapy, laser therapy, silicone gel sheeting, and pressure therapy underscore how little is understood about keloids. Keloids have a tendency to recur after surgical excision as a single treatment. Stretching tension is clearly associated with keloid generation, as keloids tend to occur on high tension sites such as chest region. The authors treated 58 chest keloid patients with surgical excision followed by intraoperative and postoperative intralesional steroid injection. Even with minor complications and recurrences, our protocol results in excellent outcomes in cases of chest keloids.

Highlights

Keloids are relatively resistant to treatment, with high recurrence rates using a single treatment modality
This is why we were focused on the article recently published in your esteemed journal by Patel et al [2] that dealt with the challenging topic of chest keloids
Patients and Methods 58 patients were treated with surgical excision combined with intraoperative/postoperative intralesional steroid injection therapy over a period of six years from July 2003 to June 2009 at our hospital

Summary

Introduction

Keloids are relatively resistant to treatment, with high recurrence rates using a single treatment modality. Keloids have a tendency to recur after surgical excision as a single treatment, with rates approximately up to 80-100%. Therein lies the challenge of treatment, where recurrence would seem inevitable. Surgical excision is considered as a kind of skin trauma and it promotes additional collagen synthesis, resulting in regrowth and even larger keloids [1]. This is why we were focused on the article recently published in your esteemed journal by Patel et al [2] that dealt with the challenging topic of chest keloids

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion