Prevention and management of scarring after thermal injury

Survival from burn injury has improved considerably over the past two decades such that the quality of life of the victim of thermal injuries has become a major concern. Severe proliferative scarring or hypertrophic scarring (HTS) is an all too frequent complication of burn wound healing that severely compromises quality of life for surviving burn victims. Prevention of such scarring in burn patients involves better understanding of the pathophysiology of scar formation, development of newer methods for determining depth of burn injury and earlier and advanced surgical interventions. Many established and evolving novel treatments for HTS in patients after thermal injury exist and include antifibrotic pharmaceuticals and cellular-based therapies as reviewed herein.