Keloid Excision and Adjuvant Treatments: A Network Meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Surgical Oncology

Background:

• Keloid disease treatment is challenging due to high recurrence rates after surgical excision.
• Current adjuvant therapies following keloid excision have variable effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of keloid excision combined with various adjuvant treatments.
• To assess recurrence rates associated with different post-surgical keloid management strategies.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of databases up to November 2016.
• Pairwise and Bayesian network meta-analyses were performed on recurrence data.
• 14 studies with 996 patients were included in the analysis.

Main Results:

• Excision plus radiation therapy showed significantly better outcomes than excision alone.
• Excision plus pressure therapy demonstrated the best outcomes among all evaluated treatments, though not statistically significant.
• Excision plus non-radiation adjuvant therapies were also superior to excision alone, but without statistical significance.

Conclusions:

• Radiation therapy as an adjuvant to keloid excision significantly improves outcomes.
• Pressure therapy following keloid excision appears to be the most effective strategy for reducing recurrence.
• Further research is warranted to confirm the efficacy of non-radiation adjuvant therapies.