New Break Through Treatment for Keloids

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Keloids are the overgrowth of scar tissue in response to skin injury or irritation. They frequently persist at the site of injury, often recur after surgical removal and overgrow the boundaries of the original wound. They can itch, be painful, restrict movement, interfere with sleep, block a vital function like hearing and cause cosmetic disfigurement with significant psychological effects. The usual treatments of surgery, radiation, cryotherapy and injections can be costly and time consuming. The Division of Bioengineering, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore has just developed a new treatment modality that could make it easier and cheaper to treat this problem. They combined a microneedle transdermal delivery system with medications like 5-fluorouracil that have been used to treat keloids. The system consists of a flexible patch, containing microneedles 0.7 to 0.9mm in length and 1/3 mm in diameter, that is applied to the skin. The microneedles are loaded with the drug, 5-fluoro-uracil (5-FU) in a solid form. The patches are flexible so they can adjust to surface contour. The microneedles penetrate the superficial skin and swell on exposure to tissue moisture opening pores along their surface that release the drug. The release is slow and sustained rather than a sudden release of the drug. The 5-FU concentration in each patch can be varied as needed. Their price points on the product are in the range of 20 cents per patch and their goal is for patients to treat themselves replacing the patch every 12 hours without ever seeing a doctor.

Micro-needle transdermal delivery system patch

So far they have only proven the patch can be applied to pig skin, the medication is delivered over time and the product stops keloid cell proliferation in petri dishes containing such cells.. Trials in human beings have not begin so we are no way near FDA approval. We do not even know what the optimal doseage for these patches should be in different patients.The 5-FU has the potential to leave you with an open wound where the keloid once was. Therefore, I cannot see the FDA allowing a chemotherapy agent like 5-FU to be used by patients without a doctor prescription or supervision.

Scars, Keloids and Hypertrophic scars
Dr. Aaron Stone - Plastic Surgeon Los Angeles
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Scars, Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars

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This blog covers skin scars only but does not include burn scars or scars related to breast implants.

Virtually everyone who lives long enough will have a skin scar from elective surgery or an injury. There has been a barrage of cosmetic surgery procedure modifications to decrease total incision length in the hope of creating less scarring. The healing of these disruptions in the skin surface follows a specific process. After the injury or cut there is bleeding. Once this stops an inflammatory process starts to get the cells needed for healing into the wound. New blood vessels grow into the area bringing in the energy needed to complete the healing process. You see this as a red color of the scar and the skin immediately next to the scar that blanches white with finger pressure. Within a week or two the healing is sufficiently strong that the wound should not reopen and any sutures that were placed can be removed. Even though the wound is healed it then must mature over the next 6 to 9 months depending on the type of injury, affected body part, age of individual etc. before the redness goes away and the increased blood flow is no longer needed. Once the scar has fully matured it usually does not blanch with finger pressure. Any problems in this process such as an infection, failure to suture a wound closed, certain vitamin deficiencies etc. prolong the healing time and in doing so result in worse more visible scarring. The skin of younger individuals makes strong repairs and tends to over heal, resulting in larger, thicker scars than on older skin. Skin over the jawbone is tighter than skin on the cheek and will tend to increase a scar's prominence. All scars are more amenable to treatment early in their life span before they mature. It is easier to prevent a bad scar from forming by control/manipulation in the early phases of wound healing than to treat one that has already formed.