Pathological scarring in burn wounds can result in hypertrophic scars and/or contractures. Prevalences of hypertrophic scarring after burn injuries between 8% and 67% are reported. A recent prospective study revealed a prevalence of 8%. Data on prevalence of burn scar contractures are limited; reported prevalence at discharge varied between 38 and 54% and decreased with an increasing time post burn. About 5–20% of the people who suffered from burn injuries received reconstructive surgery after burns, up to 10 years post injury.
Factors predicting pathological scar formation after burn injuries include patient, injury and treatment characteristics. Injury- and treatment-related characteristics are the main predictors of scar outcomes after burn injury. These characteristics are related to burn size (total body surface area burned) and burn depth (number or type of surgery) or the overall healing process in general (length of stay, wound healing complications). Intrinsic patient-related risk factors seem to play a role as well but are less consistent predictors of scar outcome. This includes the risk factors like the female gender and also a younger age and darker skin.
Knowledge on risk factors for poor scar outcome can be used to tailor treatment, aftercare and scar prevention to these patients with a high-risk profile.
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