Sep 2011
A Randomized Split-Scar Study of Intraoperative Treatment of Surgical Wound Edges to Minimize Scarring
Arch Dermatol. 2011;147(9):1108-1110. doi:10.1001/archdermatol.2011.248
For ablative resurfacing of surgical scars, the recommended time frame for treatment has remained relatively constant at 8 weeks postoperatively.1 However, Strauss and Kligman2 were aware as early as 1956 that dermabrasion to the wound edges at time of closure would improve the final appearance of sutured wounds. In 1980, Caver3 reported that dermabrasion to wound edges at the time of surgery had been used successfully in his practice for over 20 years. In recent years, 2 studies using ablative laser resurfacing of wounds at the time of closure have shown promising trends.4,5 Ablative fractional resurfacing has been shown to quantitatively improve atrophic surgical and traumatic scars.6