Topical timolol may improve overall scar cosmesis in acute surgical wounds

Acute wounds created by dermatologists following the removal of nonmelanoma skin cancers are closed either by primary or secondary intention, and the best cosmetic outcome is preferentially desired. One parameter that determines the overall cosmesis of the healed wound is its vascularity. Vascular tone results from a complex interplay of a variety of chemokines in the body and their interaction with receptors located on endothelial cell surfaces. In this study, our aim was to determine if topical timolol could improve the overall cosmesis of acute surgical wounds. We determined that patients who treated their acute surgical wounds with topical timolol had improved cosmesis compared to control.