Surgical scar revision using silicone gel sheet as an adjunct.

Abstract

Introduction:Scar is often referred to as an unattractive mark after healing of a wound. An undesirable scar may have negative social, emotional, and functional impact on the patient. It is our job as surgeons to adequately understand the expectations of the patient and counsel them for a successful procedure.Materials and Methods:Twelve patients were randomly chosen for the study, of which five were males and seven were females. The scar tissue was removed surgically, and silicone gel sheets (SGSs) were applied on the 14th postoperative day, and the dimensions of the new scar was measured periodically up to 12 months.Results:The study comprised of 12 patients- 5 males and 7 females. The descriptive statistics were calculated as median and interquartile range and comparison between time intervals was done using Wilcoxon signed rank test. Out of the 12 patients, 10 showing complete resolution of the scar and 2 patients had partial relapse of scar. However, they were satisfied with the final outcome.Conclusion:Our study found that SGSs applied to surgically revised scars significantly improves their appearance. The ease of use of the SGSs also makes it patient friendly. We observed almost complete resolution of the scar in ten patients and two patients exhibited partial relapse of the scar. However, there was a significant improvement in the overall appearance of the scar, and the patients were satisfied with the results of the procedure.