48. Silicone Taping for The Improvement of Abdominal Donor Site Scars Following Autologous Breast Reconstruction: A Randomized, Prospective Self-controlled Trial

PURPOSE: Silicone-based products improve the appearance of abdominal scars after surgical procedures1, but uptake is limited in resource-restricted environments due to device cost. Does standard silicone scar tape improve self-reported and surgeon-reported scar appearance in post-surgical abdominal scars? METHODS: A prospective single-center single-blind randomized self-control clinical trial was performed on 41 sequentially recruited and consented DIEP autologous breast reconstruction patients. Using a split-scar methodology, silicone scar tape was applied to the randomized side of the abdominal scar 2 weeks post-operatively and worn 24 hours per day for three months. The Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) was completed at 6 weeks, 3-, 6-, and 12-months. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed to detect statistical significance in patient and observer scar scores. RESULTS: The primary outcome (Total Observer Score) by blinded surgeon-observers was clinically and statistically improved with silicone tape at 3 and 6 months post-operatively (p=0.0005, p=0.0025). Observer overall impression scores were significant at 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months (p=0.0496, p=0.0015, p=0.0067), indicating improved scar appearance with silicone tape. CONCLUSION: This single-blind RCT supports the efficacy of affordable silicone taping to improve early scar appearance of post-surgical abdominal scars.