Tensile Reduction Effects of Silicon Gel Sheeting for The Treatment of Keloids / Japan Scar Workshop


Papers of The 3rd Japan Scar Workshop
14. Tensile Reduction Effects of Silicon Gel Sheeting for The Treatment of Keloids Satoshi Akaishi, Masataka Akimoto, Rei Ogawa, Teruyuki Dohi, and Hiko Hyakusoku
Despite the wide use of silicone gel sheet (SGS) on hypertrophic scars and keloids, its mechanism of action remains undetermined. Clinicians have not been satisfied with any hypothesis because SGS has had no definite effect on scars. In this paper, we focused on the tensile reduction effects of SGS on scars by visual analysis with finite element study. The geometry of keloid, normal skin, fat and SGS structures were reproduced using DISCUS© software. The contours were transferred to ADINA © analytical software to rebuild the volumes and mesh them. Moreover, we tested certain conditions (hardness and thickness) of gel sheets to determine what condition is appropriate to reduce tension around scars. It was suggested that SGS is effective to reduce the tension on the boarder between scars and normal skins, however, other tension was produced on normal skin under the lateral edge of the SGS. This suggests that SGS transfers the tension from the boarder of scars to its edge. Moreover, the most efficient hardness condition of SGS seemed to be 20kPa or less. SGS with hardness of over 20 kPa will likely result in more side effects such as dermatitis, desquamation, itching or erythema. The most efficient thickness condition of SGS seemed to be from half that for normal skin. Thus, SGS that is thicker than normal skin will result in more side effects. This is the first report on the tensile reduction effect of SGS. The ideal condition of SGS is considered to be the same thickness and hardness as normal skin.
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