Background: The true proliferation degree of burn and operation scars during their maturation was poorly defined. The objective of this study was to provide a quantitative evaluation of the proliferation degree of deep-partial thickness burn and surgical suture wound scars after wound healing and the accuracy of subjective judgment of scar types.
Methods: A total of 423 patients in the burn group and 667 patients in the suture wound group were enrolled in this study. Objective scar measurement (by negative-positive moulage) was carried out at 3, 6 and 12 months after wound healing in 1090 patients from different regions in China. The Kruskal-Wallis H test and chi-square test were used in the statistical analysis.
Results: The median degrees of scar proliferation were 0.03 cm at 3 months, 0.03 cm at 6 months and 0 cm at 12 months in the burn group and 0.05 cm, 0.04 cm and 0.04 cm respectively in the suture wound group. At 3 and 6 months post wound healing, there was no significant difference in scar proliferation between the groups (P > 0.01). After 1 year, burn scars displayed evidence of atrophy (P < 0.01). Although the degree of scar proliferation differed among the four scar types (P < 0.01), the ranges of scar height in the four scar types largely overlapped when judged in a subjective manner, especially in proliferation and superficial scars.
Conclusions: Scar atrophy occurs after one year in burns, but not in the surgical suture wound group. It is important to take anti-scar therapy for surgical wounds as well as burn wounds. The various scar types could not be judged precisely in a subjective manner.