ReviewAesthetic plastic surgery2023
Comparing the Efficacy of Multiple Drugs Injection for the Treatment of Hypertrophic Scars and Keloid: A Network Meta-Analysis.
Review in Aesthetic plastic surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Surgical Excision with Adjuvant Therapies in the Management of Keloids: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Pooled it
- Native Collagen for Surgical Wound and Scar Prevention-A Six-Case Clinical Series.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Retrospective study comparing three approaches for keloids: surgery + radiotherapy, surgery + pharmacological injection, and surgery alone.BMC surgery · 2025Observational
- Functional Compression Fabrics with Dual Scar-Suppressing and Antimicrobial Properties: Microencapsulation Design and Performance Evaluation.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2025Article
- LangerinClinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology · 2025Review
- Prospects for Use of Botulinum Toxin Type A for Prevention of Hypertrophic and Keloid Scars after Surgeries.Indian journal of plastic surgery : official publication of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India · 2024Article
- Pharmacotherapy for Keloids and Hypertrophic Scars.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Response to Letter Comments on "Analgesic Effect of Ropivacaine Pumped in the Sub Rectus Abdominis Muscle Sheath After Abdominoplasty".Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2023Article
- An updated review of the immunological mechanisms of keloid scars.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is no consensus regarding the choice of injected drugs for pathological scars. Although the clinical efficacy of different drug treatments was shown in many randomized controlled trials, the efficacies of many drugs are inconsistent. Therefore, this study aimed to determine how different effective drugs are for treating pathological scars. It is anticipated that the study findings may serve as guidelines for plastic surgeons.
methodsRelevant literature was extracted from the following databases Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Weipu, and Wanfang until June 2022, such as randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating different injected drugs for the treatment of pathological scars, including BTA, TAC, 5-Fu, VER, and BLE.
resultsThis network meta-analysis of 1539 patients from 23 articles revealed that the most effective treatment for a pathological scar was TAC + BTA. The effective rate of TAC + BTA combination therapy was significantly different from that of the BTA, TAC, 5-Fu, VER, and BLM monotherapies. TAC+5-FU was more effective than TAC, 5-FU, VER, or BLM alone, and BTA was more effective than both TAC and 5-Fu. The effectiveness of VER and BLM was the same, but both were better than TAC and 5-Fu. No big differences were found between any of the other local injection therapies.
conclusionsAccording to this network meta-analysis, a combination of keloid and hypertrophic scar injection treatment is recommended, especially BTA+TAC. However, this network meta-analysis has some limitations and must be further verified by larger samples and higher quality RCTs. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.