Techniques for Optimizing Surgical Scars, Part 1: Wound Healing and Depressed/Atrophic Scars

Surgical management of benign or malignant cutaneous tumors may result in noticeable scars that are of great concern to patients, regardless of sex, age, or ethnicity. Techniques to optimize surgical scars are discussed in this three-part review. In part 1, an overview of the importance of preoperative planning, intraoperative technique, and pathophysiology of wound healing is followed by a discussion of scar revision options for depressed/atrophic scars. Scar revision options for these scars include dermabrasion, needling and subcision, punch excision and grafts, fillers, nonablative fractional lasers, ablative and fractional ablative lasers, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). This review examines the scar revision outcomes for each technique, discusses potential adverse effects, and highlights the importance of further studies to optimize postsurgical scar revision.