A comparative study of the efficacy and safety of pure silica gel and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt silica gel in hypertrophic scar treatment

Purpose: To compare clinical efficacy of pure silica gel and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt silica gel (SQASC) in treatment of hypertrophic scars. Methods: Eighty-four patients with hypertrophic scars, who were admitted to hospital, were randomly divided into study group and control group with 42 patients in each group. Study group was treated with SQASC while control group was treated with pure silica gel. Scar scores (Vancouver scar score, VSS), scar aesthetics (Patient and observer scar assessment scale, POSAS), symptom improvement and adverse reactions were compared between groups before and after treatment. Results: Before treatment, there were no differences in VSS and POSAS scores for each aspect between groups. After treatment, VSS and POSAS scores for each aspect in study group were significantly lower than those in control group (p < 0.05). Congestion, itching, pain disappearance and thickness reduction occurred significantly earlier in study group than in control group (p < 0.05). Incidence of adverse reactions in study group was 4.76 %, which was significantly lower than 19.05% in control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Compared with pure silica gel, SQASC effectively alleviates symptoms of hypertrophic scars and aesthetics with fewer adverse effects. In future studies, sample size will be increased and study duration will be extended appropriately.