Recurrence rates of excised keloids treated with postoperative triamcinolone acetonide injections or interferon alfa-2b injections.

Abstract

Keloids that are surgically removed commonly recur within the excision sites. Our purpose was to determine whether postsurgical adjunctive therapy reduces such recurrences. We determined the rate of recurrence after excision alone (n = 43) and postoperative injection with triamcinolone acetonide (TAC; n = 65) or interferon alfa-2b (IFN-alpha 2b; n = 16). Of lesions excised without postoperative injections, 51.1% (22 of 43) recurred; 58.4% of TAC-treated lesions (38 of 65) recurred and 18.7% of IFN-alpha 2b-treated lesions (3 of 16) recurred (p = 0.025). Postoperative TAC injections do not reduce the number of keloid recurrences. However, injection of keloid excision sites with IFN-alpha 2b offers a therapeutic advantage over keloid excision.