Review on various combination therapies for the treatment of Hypertrophic scars and keloids

Abstract

Keloids and hypertrophic scars are mild proliferative growth of dermal collagen that results in various physical, physiological and cosmetic concerns. Till the date the basis behind the formation of these scars has not been fully defined, it is assumed that keloids- and hypertrophic scar-derived fibroblasts produce increased amount of collagen per cell compared with normal fibroblast. Thus suppression of the fibroblast becomes the basic approach for therapeutic treatment of the wound responses. There is no permanent treatment for ablation of keloids and hypertrophic scars. A large number of trials have been taken on different drugs and different drug delivery systems and all of them are having variable results. Trials such as laser treatment, surgical procedures, intralesional injections of steroids have been taken for ablation of these scars. But most of these treatments are not permanent (intralesional injection), time taking (surgical procedures) and have a large probability of recurrence. This review article summarizes the information on various therapies for the treatment of keloids and hypertrophic scars as well as their pros and cons Keywords: Keloids, Hypertrophic Scars, Intralesional Corticosteroid Injection, Laser therapy, Surgical excision, Radio therapy, Cryotherapy