Facial scars: analysis of 2713 clinical cases

Abstract

Mechanical damage to soft tissues and bones is inevitable as a result of surgery in the maxillofacial area. In response to trauma, complex neurohumoral mechanisms begin to heal the wound, as a result of which scar tissue is formed. Cosmetic defects, functional problems such as soft tissue contractures and scar deformities, as well as subjective disease symptoms such as itching and pain, can dramatically affect quality of life, their physical condition and psychological health. According to statistics, every year about 100 million people receive injuries that result in unsightly scars, 55% of which are postoperative. The purpose of the research was to study the possible results of healing of postoperative wounds of soft tissues with cicatricial deformations of the skin of the maxillofacial area based on the materials of a retrospective analysis of disease histories for 5 years. 2,713 medical histories of patients hospitalized in the maxillofacial department for the period 2015–2019 were studied, 95.72% of which underwent surgical treatment. Some patients were given surgical treatment using operative access through the oral cavity or conservative treatment. But external access through the skin was used for the treatment of most patients. Patients were divided into groups depending on the nosology of the disease (patients with diagnoses of soft tissue neoplasms of the head and neck; traumatic injuries of the bones of the facial skull; inflammatory diseases of the maxillofacial region; neoplasms of the bones of the facial skeleton). There were also groups of patients who underwent surgical treatment by intraoral access and patients who received only conservative treatment. It was established that more than 70% of patients who were hospitalized received surgical treatment, as a result of which scars were formed in the visible parts of the maxillofacial area. Treatment of patients with inflammatory diseases of the maxillofacial area most often leads to the formation of a postoperative scar on the skin, and the smallest number of patients who have a postoperative scar were diagnosed with neoplasms of the bones of the facial skeleton.

Keywords: skin, postoperative healing, postoperative wounds, regeneration.