Evaluation of Flexibility and Thickness of Cleft Lip Scars After Treatment with Microneedling Technique: a Cohort Trial

Citation: Alghazzawi M, Almodalal Y. Evaluation of Flexibility and Thickness of Cleft Lip Scars After Treatment with Microneedling Technique: a Cohort Trial. Dermatol Pract Concept. 2023;13(2):e2023083. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5826/dpc.1302a83

Accepted: September 20, 2022; Published: April 2023

Copyright: ©2023 Alghazzawi et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (BY-NC-4.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, which permits unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.

Funding: None.

Competing interests: None.

Authorship: All authors have contributed significantly to this publication.

Corresponding author: Mohamad Alghazzawi, PhD student, Department of Oral and maxillofacial syrgery, University of Damascus Dental School, Damascus, Syria. Mobile: +963988359129. E-mail: d.ghazawy86@gmail.com 

Abstract

Introduction:The early surgical treatment of the cleft lip led to a postoperative scar formation which may affect the physiological and psychological aspects of the patient.

Objectives: Evaluating the improvement rate of thescar flexibility and thickness of the cleft lip scar after treatment with the microneedling.

Methods: Sixteen patients (12 females and 4 males), aged 16-30 years who had a cleft lip scare were included in the current study.All patients suffered from a visible defective scar in the upper cleft lip.All patients were treated with a microneedling pen device combined with topical application of oil-based hyaluronic acid.The procedure was performed in 4 sessions with 3-week intervals between sessions.The scars were assessed by the patient and an external observer using the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale.

Results:Thickness of the scar was improved according to the patient and observer opinions (67.28% and 61.55% respectively). Flexibility was improved according to the patient observer opinion (65.57% and 60.25% respectively).

Conclusions: Microneedling treatment can be considered as an effective method for the treatment of the defective scars resulting from the cleft lip plastic surgery.The microneedling technique is a simple,easy, safe, non-invasive, and low-cost procedure.

Keywords : cleft lip, scar, scar management, scar treatment, microneedling

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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