A Single Center Retrospective Cohort Study of Burn Scar Alopecia Surgery

This retrospective study from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examined the clinical features of patients who developed burn scar alopecia (BSA) and pursued treatment over a 14-year period. The study reviewed medical records of 27 patients with scalp burns from April 2009 to February 2023. Of these, 51.9% (n=14) developed BSA, and 71.4% (n=10) of those chose to pursue surgical treatment, undergoing an average of 4.8±3.0 scalp surgeries. The study found that patients often wait years after their scalp burn to pursue multiple surgeries to address BSA. The study concluded that surgeons should consider factors such as burn injury mechanism, timing after burn injury, the financial burden of staged reconstruction, and defect size to facilitate shared decision-making. The study also suggested that treatment options for BSA should be widely offered, as it may contribute to a negative self-image.