The response of keloid scars to cryosurgery.

The effectiveness of cryosurgery in the treatment of a series of keloid scars in 17 patients has been investigated. A portable liquid nitrogen spray was used, and cryosurgical schedules shown experimentally to produce minimal scarring in normal skin were utilized in order to minimize recurrence rate. Temperatures achieved were monitored using digital thermometers, and scar volumes before and 1 month after treatment were calculated from plaster impressions. Response to treatment was poor, only two scars exhibiting marked reduction in volume without further, more severe freezing. Calculations of an accurate recurrence rate were impossible because of this poor response, but both earlobe keloids responded well and showed no evidence of recurrence at 1 year. Results provide further evidence that lesions made up principally of fibrous tissue respond poorly to cryosurgery.