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

Background: Keloids that are surgically removed commonly recur within the excision sites. Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether postsurgical adjunctive therapy reduces such recurrences. Methods: 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). Results: 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). Conclusion: 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.