Keloid is a benign skin tumor caused by excessive proliferation and hyaline degeneration of connective tissue, called crab foot swelling or giant scar in Chinese medicine, and is a common disease in dermatology. Keloid scars are commonly found on the chest, shoulders, neck, back and auricles. They appear as tumor-like growths protruding from the skin surface, with a smooth, red and shiny surface, and are often found to have dilated capillaries extending outward. Patients often feel an itchy or tingling burning sensation.
Currently, the main treatments for keloid scars include: medication, compression therapy, laser therapy, silicone gel therapy, surgery and radiation therapy. The most effective treatment with the lowest recurrence rate is surgery combined with radiation therapy. The treatment process is that the patient first undergoes surgery to completely remove the scar, and radiation therapy to the surgical incision site is started within 24-48 hours after surgery. Radiotherapy is administered by fractionated external irradiation with lower energy electron rays at a total dose of 10-15Gy, completed in 5-10 sessions. Radiation therapy can directly damage fibroblasts and affect the structure of collagen and the arrangement of collagen fibers, thus achieving the goal of inhibiting scar regeneration.
The efficiency of radiotherapy for scar treatment is more than 80%, which far exceeds other treatment methods. However, due to the carcinogenic and teratogenic effects of radioactivity, radiotherapy should be used with caution for scars located on the surface of the thyroid or breast, and should not be used for children and pregnant women.