• Chae-Gwan Kong, Geon-Hyeong Kim, Dong-Wook Kim, and Yong In.
• Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Uijeongbu St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
• Arch Orthop Trauma Surg. 2014 Apr 1;134(4):555-9.

IntroductionThe surgical wound of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) needs continuous flexion and extension movement. Silicone gel treatment is widely used to treat hypertrophic scars and keloids since it is easily applied and prevents scar pain and itching. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of silicone gel applied to surgical scars of TKA on postoperative scar pain and pruritus.Materials And MethodsOne hundred TKAs were randomized into a silicone gel group (silicone gel was applied to the wound after stitch-out for 1 month) or a placebo group. The postoperative scar pain and pruritus were evaluated with the use of a visual analog scale (VAS) at postoperative 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. Scar assessment was done using the Vancouver scar scale by evaluating scar pigmentation, vascularity, pliability, and height.ResultsAlthough silicone gel group showed better pigmentation and height scales than placebo group (P < 0.05), there were no significant differences in the postoperative scar pain and pruritus VAS scores between the groups (P > 0.05).ConclusionsApplication of silicone gel had no beneficial effects on scar pain and itching relief during the early postoperative period of TKA.Level Of EvidenceI-Randomized Controlled Trial.

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