KELOIDS AND HYPERTROPHIC SCARS;

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of triamcinolone alone andtriamcinolone mixed with 5-flourouracil used for intralesional injection to treat symptomatichypertrophic scars and keloids. Study Design: Prospective study. Place & duration of study:Departments of Plastic and General Surgery, Khawaja Muhammad Safdar Medical College,Sialkot from January 2014 to September 2016. Material and Methods: Plastic and generalsurgery outpatients with symptomatic keloids and hypertrophic scars fulfilling inclusion criteriawere registered. Adult patients irrespective of gender, areas involved and size of the keloidswere included. Patients refusing treatment, pregnant and lactating women were excluded;similarly the patients not completing the follow up for at least 3 months were dropped from thestatistical analysis. Patients’ response to treatment was judged by the reduction in the physicalsize of keloids and subjective improvement in symptoms of itching, discomfort, pain, deformityor redness. Minimum of three sessions of treatment was must for assessment of outcome.Data was entered and analysis done by SPSS v 22. Results: Of the 293 outpatients 115 weretreated by the mixed triamcinolone and 5 flourouracil while 178 patients were injected withtriamcinolone only. Female patients were more in number with ratio of 2.8:1. Good responseto treatment with Triamcinolone alone was obtained in 69 (38.76%) while good response wasseen in 62 (53.91%) of patients with intralesional Triamcinolone mixed with 5-flourouracil.Conclusion: The intra-lesional steroid injection commonly used as its treatment has convincingresponse. The presently used mixture of steroids and 5-flourouracil has more promising resultsas regards patients’ improvement in symptomatology as well as physical reduction in the size.