Tissue Stromal Vascular Fraction Improves Early Scar Healing: A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Regenerative Medicine
• Plastic Surgery
• Wound Healing Research

Background:

• Scar formation is influenced by numerous factors, necessitating interventions for abnormal scarring.
• Adipose tissue's tissue stromal vascular fraction (tSVF) contains growth factors crucial for wound healing processes like angiogenesis and remodeling.
• Investigating tSVF's potential to mitigate scar formation is clinically relevant.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that tSVF injections reduce postsurgical scar formation.
• To evaluate the efficacy of tSVF in improving scar quality after mammoplasty.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial involving 40 mammoplasty patients.
• Patients received tSVF in one breast scar and placebo in the contralateral breast as an intrapatient control.
• Scar quality was assessed using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), photography, and histology over 1 year.

Main Results:

• At 6 months postoperation, tSVF injection significantly improved scar appearance per POSAS.
• No significant differences in scar quality were observed at 12 months between tSVF and placebo groups.
• Photographic and histologic analyses did not reveal improvements from tSVF treatment.

Conclusions:

• tSVF injection demonstrated a temporary benefit in improving wound healing and reducing scar formation at 6 months.
• The advantageous effects of tSVF on scar quality were not sustained at 12 months postoperation.
• Further research may be needed to optimize tSVF application for long-term scar reduction.