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A Critical Analysis of Measurements Used to Assess and Manage Scars

Pediatric Rehabilitation Centre CSRE Lamalou le Haut, Lamalou les Bains, France

Luc Teot, MD, PhD

Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit, Hôpital Lapeyronie, Montpellier, France, Lteot{at}aol.com

Scars evolve through a maturation stage during which it is necessary to adapt different treatments. To adapt treatments, it is necessary to assess various parameters linked to inflammation. To this end, clinical scar assessments are subjective though reliable, and validation is operator dependent. The Vancouver Scar Scale, Visual Analogic Scale, Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale, and the Manchester Scale assess different scar characteristics. These scales are interesting, depending on the type of scars, and are easy to use but subject to errors. To use clinical a scale, the raters must be trained. Parameters can also be precisely assessed by technical means, whereby they rate only one parameter, but are more accurate. Some scales are easy to use, have low cost, and can be used for clinical assessment. Others scales are more complex and expensive, and can be used in research or treatment evaluation.

Key Words: scars • measurements • skin quality • vascularity • color

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The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, Vol. 6, No. 4, 249-253 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1534734607308249


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Roques, C. Articles by Teot, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Roques, C. Articles by Teot, L. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?