World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

ELECTRON THERAPY IN KELOID MANAGEMENT: A SINGLE INSTITUTIONAL RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

Vinita Trivedi*, Richa Chauhan, Rita Rani, Usha Singh, Deepali Patil

ABSTRACT

Background: Keloids are benign dermal tumours composed of disorganised thick hyalinised collagen which causes aesthetic disfigurement and can be pruritic or tender. The common areas prone to develop keloids are the earlobe, upper back and midline of the chest. The treatment of keloid is complex as simple excision alone results in 45% to 100% recurrence rate. Many adjuvant therapies including radiation has been tried to reduce the rate of recurrence. Postoperative irradiation to a minimal dose of 10-15 Gy can reduce this recurrence rate to 2.4 to 20 % with good cosmetic results. Aims: To study the efficacy and toxicity of adjuvant external beam radiotherapy in our patients with recurrent keloids. Methods and Material: A retrospective review of 15 patients with recurrent keloids, who underwent postoperative electron beam irradiation between February1, 2011 and December 31st, 2015 was done. All the patients were treated with 4 to 6 Mev electron beam radiation using a dose schedule of 16Gy/4# within 72 hours of surgical excision. They were further analysed for control rate and toxicity. Results: Majority of the patients were female and anterior chest wall was the most common site of keloid formation. Intralesional steroid, 5FU or Bleomycin was used in 12 (80%) of the patients as adjuvant treatment after surgery. All the patients received radiation within three days of excision. The radiation was well tolerated in all the patients. Burning sensation, redness, pain and hypopigmentation was the side effects seen. Recurrence was seen in one patient after 6 months of Radiation. Limitations: Few number of patients and short follow-up period. Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that hypofractionated electron radiotherapy has an effective role as an adjuvant therapy following surgical excision of keloids in recurrent cases.

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