Botulinum toxin injections improve facial surgical scars

(HealthDay)—Botulinum toxin injections in surgical wound closure immediately after surgery improve facial surgery scars, according to a small study published in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Li Hu, Ph.D., M.D., from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and colleagues injected botulinum toxin type A into half of each surgical wound closure among 16 consecutive patients who underwent facial surgery between June and October 2015. At six-months post-surgery, two plastic surgeons assessed the scars independently, using the visual analogue scale and the Vancouver Scar Scale.

The researchers found that, based on the 14 patients who completed the study, the visual analogue scale score and scar width measurements showed a significant improvement in appearance and narrower scars for the halves of the scars treated with botulinum toxin type A (P = 0.046 and 0.001, respectively). The mean Vancouver Scar Scale score was 4.68 for the group injected with botulinum toxin type A versus 5.24 for the control group (P = 0.15).

"This study demonstrates that early post-surgical botulinum toxin injections can produce better, narrower, and flatter facial surgical scars," the authors write.