What are the key risk factors of keloid formation after repair of syndactyly of the toe?

Purpose

Keloid formation in toes area is rare. However, occurrence of this phenomenon in toes after the surgery of syndactyly repair has been reported. Risk factors of keloid formation in toes after syndactyly reconstructions are currently unknown. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors of keloid formation after the surgery of syndactyly repair of the toes.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed our case series including patients who were treated surgically at our institution. We hypothesized some key factors of keloid formation and analyzed each of them statistically.

Results

A total of 105 patients were treated surgically at our hospital, and 9 patients were involved keloid formations after operations. Among our hypothesized key factors, the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed the number of affected web spaces (OR 0.031; 95%CI 0.001–0.684; p = 0.028) was significantly different. Digital enlargement was not a significant factor (OR 17.731; 95%CI 0.686–458.174; p = 0.091).

Conclusion

Involving multiple web space was associated with keloid formation after syndactyly release, on the other hand, toe enlargement did not show a significant difference. However, the digital enlargement showed high Odds ratio, we could not deny its high relativity for keloid formation. Further investigations are needed to clarify the key risk factors of keloid formation after the surgery of syndactyly repair of the toes.