Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy for Hypertrophic Scars

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Regenerative Medicine
• Medical Technology

Background:

• Hypertrophic scars present significant aesthetic and quality-of-life challenges.
• Current treatments lack a universally established gold standard due to variable patient responses.
• Extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) is a noninvasive modality that influences fibroblast activity for scar remodeling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficacy of ESWT in treating hypertrophic scars.
• To assess the impact of ESWT on scar characteristics and patient-reported outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-nine patients with hypertrophic scars received weekly ESWT for six consecutive weeks.
• Scar assessments included the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS), erythema index, melanin index, and pliability.
• Evaluations were conducted pre-treatment and four weeks post-treatment.

Main Results:

• Significant improvements were observed in most POSAS subscales and total scores (p < 0.05).
• Improvements were noted in pain, itching, and pigmentation, with scar pliability, melanin, and erythema indices also showing positive trends.
• Patients reported satisfaction with symptom alleviation, despite some subjective score changes being statistically insignificant. Mild adverse events like pruritus were reported.

Conclusions:

• ESWT demonstrates promising efficacy as a treatment for hypertrophic scars.
• The therapy led to significant improvements in key scar assessment metrics.
• ESWT offers a viable, noninvasive option for managing hypertrophic scars with good patient tolerance.