Surgical considerations in skin of colour: minimizing pathological scars

In most surgeries, the primary aim, for both surgeons and patients, is the success of the operation being undertaken. A secondary aim is for optimal wound healing with minimal scar formation. The normal wound-healing process involves four distinct but overlapping stages: haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodelling. In some patients, the cellular process involved in the proliferation and remodelling stages can be deranged, resulting in the formation of hypertrophic or keloid scars, a phenomenon more frequently seen in skin of colour. The first report of excessive scarring is thought to be the Smith papyrus about 1700 BC. In the 20th century, both Mancini and Quaife (in 1962) and Peacock et al. (in 1970) classified excessive scarring into hypertrophic and keloid scar formation. Clinicians can minimize the risk of these pathological scars developing by using good preoperative, perioperative/intraoperative and postoperative surgical practices. This paper reviews the wound-healing processes in association with good surgical principles and practice, discusses how implementing these principles in practice helps in this prevention and management of pathological surgical scars such as hypertrophic scars and keloid scars. and offers a practical step-by-step clinical guide that can be used by any clinician.