COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION OF PATIENTS WITH PATHOLOGICAL FACIAL SCARS

Introduction. The urgency of the issue on diagnosis of pathological head and neck scars has resulted from a growing prevalence of pathological scars. Quite often, patients with pathological scars require psychological rehabilitation. The purpose of our study is to improve the effectiveness of the treatment of scars by identifying a specific type of scar and taking into account the psychological state of the patient. Materials and methods. Under our supervision, there were 60 people with head and neck scars aged 20-50 years (mean age 31.2 ± 11.1 years). In addition, the study involved 20 healthy individuals (mean age 30.9 ± 10.7 years). Clinical examination of patients was supplemented by digital imaging of graphic images in the RGB system in Adobe Photoshop. An integral part of the clinical examination of patients with head and neck scars was a detailed study of their individual personality characteristics. The study included the techniques to assess patients’ general health condition, general activity and emotional state; a questionnaire for evaluating mental stress and the "Integrative Anxiety Test" was also used. Results. By applying the RGB colour system, statistically significant differences in colour indices were revealed. It was established that all the indicators of intensity of spectral radiation tended to decrease: the red colour indicator tended to decrease on average by 4 units, the same was relevant for the green spectrum indicator. The average values of the reduction of the blue colour intensity were 10 units. Mental and emotional states of the patients with pathological scars are characterized by specific features that distinguish them from the emotional state of healthy individuals. Significant differences in the emotional states between the emotional states of the patients and healthy individuals included both quantitative (higher rates of most of the investigated parameters) and qualitative parameters (different proportion of components in the structure of the emotional state). The obtained data testify that the patients with pathological scars tend to respond to the traumatic situation (including the situation of the disease) by intense feeling of physiological and psychological discomfort, depressed mood, mental stress, anxiety, hypochondria, exaggeration of negative experience. Conclusions. The application of the RGB system in the diagnosis of pathological scarring in the face allows us to reliably determine the type of scar, and depending on the scar type to choose the optimal method of the therapy. Inclusion in the comprehensive examination of psychodiagnostic methods is sufficiently feasible and can contribute to the development of an integrated approach in the treatment of pathological scars.