Non-Surgical Interventions for Reducing Cleft Lip Scars: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Dermatology
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Cleft lip scars present significant esthetic and psychological challenges.
• Non-surgical interventions are increasingly explored for scar management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of non-surgical interventions for reducing cleft lip scars.
• To compare laser therapy and botulinum toxin type A (BTA) in scar improvement.

Main Methods:

• Systematic search of multiple databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of Science).
• Inclusion of human cohort and RCT studies assessing non-surgical cleft lip scar treatments.
• Inverse variance random-effects meta-analysis of eligible studies.

Main Results:

• Laser therapy demonstrated significant scar appearance improvement (P < .001) via Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS).
• Botulinum toxin type A (BTA) showed no significant improvement via VSS (P = .15) but improved subjective aesthetics via Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (P < .001).
• BTA did not significantly reduce scar width (P > .05).

Conclusions:

• Laser therapy is more effective than BTA for objective cleft lip scar improvement (VSS).
• BTA offers subjective esthetic benefits (VAS) in managing cleft lip scars.
• Non-surgical interventions are effective options for cleft lip scar management.