Evaluating Tamoxifen Effect in the Prevention of Hypertrophic Scars Following Surgical Incisions

Hypertrophic scars (HTS) following surgical incisions develop mainly due to fibroblast dysfunction in wound healing process, and it may cause significant psychological and social consequences in various patient populations. With regard to growing evidence on tamoxifen effects on fibroblast growth patterns at the cellular level, this study was designated to evaluate the clinical utility of tamoxifen in the prevention of hypertrophic scars, which had been carried out in Shohadaye Tajrish and Ayatollah Taleghani Medical Centers in the 2000-2001 time interval.

In a double-blind randomized clinical trial after obtaining informed consent, of 300 patients with a history of HTS, who had undergone surgical operations with different skin incisions were assigned randomly into two groups. The first group received tamoxifen tablets postoperatively according to a standard protocol while the control group received placebo. After two months the two groups were compared according to the development of HTS and the result was statistically analyzed.

The studied population, comprised of 235 men (78.7%) and 65 women (21.7%), developed HTS following surgical incision. Of these 138 patients (92%) were in the study group, while 78 patients (52%) belonged to control group.

Regarding the significant difference of HTS development between the study and control groups (92% vs. 52%), tamoxifen seems to be an effective agent in the prevention of Hypertrophic scars following surgery.