comparison of therapeutic response of keloids to cryotherapy plus intralesional triamcinolone acetonide or verapamil hydrochloride

Background: a keloid is dysregulated fibroproliferative scar tissue in response to skin injuries, which extends beyond the wound margin. since it has a poor response to treatment, variable therapies are used. current therapies of keloid include intralesional corticosteroid injection, cryotherapy and various laser therapies, silicone gel sheets (pressure therapy), interferon-α-2b, 5-fluoruracil or bleomycine administration, excision followed by low dose radiation or topical imiquimod.objectives: the aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of “intralesional triamcinolone with cryotherapy” and “intralesional verapamil with cryotherapy”.patients and methods: eighty patients (42 females and 38 males, aged 11 - 40 years) were allocated to receive one of the four treatment methods. group 1: intralesional triamcinolone with cryotherapy. group 2: intralesional verapamil with cryotherapy. group 3: intralesional verapamil. group 4: cryotherapy. improvement of healing was measured using modified vancouver scar scale and centimeter scale.results: there was a real faster response in the first group; while groups 3 and 4 had the slowest responses to treatment. rates of responsiveness seemed to have no significant difference between the groups, but side effects were significantly much frequent in the first group.conclusions: intralesional triamcinolone acetonide with cryotherapy showed the most efficacies with more adverse effects, but intralesional verapamil with cryotherapy showed good efficacy with less adverse effects. hence, it is a suitable alternative in the treatment of keloids.