Comparative Efficacy of Intralesional Keloid Therapies: Network Meta-Analysis

A network meta-analysis of 51 clinical studies involving 3,234 participants and 23 interventions for keloid scar treatment. The analysis compared efficacy, recurrence, and safety of intralesional therapies, ranking treatments using SUCRA scores. Results indicate combination therapies, particularly 5-FU + corticoids + YAG:Laser, showed the highest probability of effectiveness for keloid reduction.

Use Cases

• Ranking treatment efficacy for keloid reduction based on SUCRA scores from the network meta-analysis.
• Comparing safety profiles of interventions using reported risk ratios for adverse effects.
• Informing clinical trial design by identifying evidence gaps, such as insufficient data on recurrence outcomes.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on a substantial evidence base of 51 studies and 3,234 participants.
• Study protocol was preregistered (PROSPERO CRD420251088758), enhancing methodological transparency.
• Data is openly available under a permissive CC-BY-4.0 license.

Limitations

• The dataset's column structure is unknown, limiting detailed data exploration.
• The analysis found insufficient evidence to differentiate interventions based on recurrence outcomes.
• The primary data format is DOCX, which is less structured for computational analysis than formats like CSV.

Provenance

Source

Camila Sanchez Cruz

Collection Method

PRISMA-guided systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized, non-randomized, and crossover trials.

Time Range

Studies included up to July 2025.

Freshness

2026-03-20