Every surgeon should strive to leave a pleasing and acceptable scars not only the plastic surgeons but the other surgeons since the patient often judges the surgeon by his scar.
Scars occupy a large number of patients in a plastic surgery department and the plastic surgeon bears the heaviest onus because the patient expects him to produce a "beautiful scar".
For every surgeon, and for every patient, prevention of the hypertrophic scar and keloid is much more satisfactory than treatment.
From January 1975 to June 1978, 320 cases of scars experienced on department of plastic surgery of Korea University Hospital were observed and analysed.
The results obtained were as follows :
1. Of the 320 cases, there were 127(39.69%) normal, 106(33.13%) hypertrophic, 52(16.25%) atrophic, and 35(10.94%) keloid scars.
2. The scars were 121(37.81%) males and 199(62.19%) females. The sex distribution of hypertrophic scars was same in both sex, but normal scars, atrophic scars and of hypestrophic scars occupied higher incidence in females.
3. The most frequent age distribution of scars was 147(45.94%) in 21-30 years of age. Atrophic scars and normal scars were the most frequent in 21-30 year of age. Hypertrophic scars were 49(46.23%) case in 1-10 years of age among 106 patients. Keloid was 32(91.43) cases under 30 years of age.
4. The most frequent cause of normal scars was 63(49.61%) trauma. In atrophic scars, trauma and small pox were 20(38.46%) cases, and 15(28.85%) cases among 52 cases. The most frequent cause of hypertrophic and keloid scar was burn.
5. The most frequent site of scars were face in normal and atrophic scar, joints in hypertrophic scar, deltoid and presternal area in keloid.
6. The amounts of elastin fiber in scars were the progressive quantitative decline from atrophic scars through normal scars, with a marked reduction in hypertrophic scars, culmination in its virtual absence in keloid.
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