Comparison of efficacy between triamcinolone and mixture of lidocaine-triamcinolone on keloid volume reduction: A randomized, double blinded, prospective study

Background: Triamcinolone acetonide intralesional injections have been well established in keloid treatment. Lidocaine has usually been mixed with triamcinolone to reduce pain during the injection. Previous in vitro studies showed that lidocaine could inhibit the fibroblast proliferation. The authors would like to study the efficacy of lidocaine-triamcinolone mixture on keloid volume reduction. Materials and Methods: Between October 2017 and February 2018, a total 15 patients were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into 3 groups: Triamcinolone (group A), Lidocaine mixed triamcinolone (group B), and Lidocaine with adrenaline mixed triamcinolone (group C). All patients received the treatment a total of 4 times, once every 4 weeks. Then 4 weeks after the last treatment, patients were evaluated for volume reduction using the Vancouver scar scale and Visual analogue score. Results: No significant volume reduction was observed among the 3 groups (group A: 0.34+0.52 ml, group B: 0.41+0.43 ml, and group C: 0.53+0.93 ml, p-value = 0.65). The percentage of volume reduction in group B was noticeable (group A; 47.95%, group B; 62.1%, and group C; 42.07%, p-value = 0.521). All patients in group B showed improvement in scar pliability. Conclusion: Lidocaine-triamcinolone mixture may have higher efficacy than triamcinolone alone in term of keloid volume reduction and scar pliability.