Avaliação histológica comparativa da eficácia de ácido tricloroacético e subcisão, isolados e combinados, no tratamento de estrias abdominais Comparative histological evaluation of the effectiveness of trichloroacetic acid and subcision (isolated or combined) in the treatment of abdominal striae Artigo Original

Introduction: Abdominal striae(i.e. stretch marks) are considered scars, for which there are no known treatments. Objective: To compare the effectiveness of three treatments: subcision, 20% trichloroacetic acid, and subcision + 20% trichloroacetic acid in the treatment of stretch marks. Methods: The lower abdomens of 11 patients with stretch marks were divided into four quadrants. Each patient had one stria selected for a single treatment session; the three treatments (subcision, 20% trichloroacetic acid, and subcision + 20% trichloroacetic acid) were administered in 3 quadrants, and the 4th quadrant served as a control. Each selected stria was biopsied before and after 12 weeks. The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate the differences between the treatments. Results: In all treatments there was a reduction in the mean value after treatment, however the 20% trichloroacetic acid treatment was statistically significant for the epidermal parameter and the collagen fiber staining. The subcision associated with 20% trichloroacetic acid presented a statistically significant result in the superficial dermis parameter, while the isolated subcision was significant in the superficial dermis parameter only. Conclusions:These treatments are safe and present low operating costs, which make them a great alternative for treating abdominal striae. Future studies should conduct a clinical-histological evaluation after a greater number of sessions.