Comparative Study between Fat Injection and Platelet Rich Plasma in Post Burn Facial Scar: Clinical and Histological Assessment

Abstract

Background & Aim: There is no widely approved treatmentprocedure for post-burn scars, even though many therapyapproaches have been promoted. Many previous studiesseparately evaluated fat injection and platelet rich plasma intreatment of post-burn scar. This study aimed to compare efficacyof both fat injection and platelet rich plasma in improvingoutcome of post burn facial scar.Patients and Methods: In the current study a total of 60patients with post-burn facial scar were enrolled. Those patientswere randomly subdivided into either fat injection group < br />(n=30) or platelet rich plasma group (PRP) (n=30). Baselinecharacteristics were recorded in addition to Vancouver score(VS) used to assess the scar and histological evaluation.Results: Most patients were female with no significantdifferences among both groups regarding different baselinedata and scar characteristics. There were no significant differencesamong the groups regarding baseline Vancouver score(VS) and epidermal thickness, but the fat injection group hadsignificantly lower VS (3.67±1.83 vs 3.87±1.33; p < 0.001) andhigher epidermal thickness (362.20±92.73 vs. 255.40±90.00(um); p < 0.001) during follow-up. There were only two (6.7percent) cases in the PRP group & four (13.3%) cases in thefat injection group developed conservatively relieved edema.Conclusion: The autologous fat injection was effective andsafe technique in improving the outcome of post-burn facialscar as evaluated by Vancouver score and epidermal thickness.It’s recommended to perform such study on large number ofpatients in multiple centers with longer duration of follow-up < br />to confirm such findings.