Experience with Various Scars after Treatment of Axillary Osmidrosis

ABSTRACT

The goal of osmidrosis operation is not only to be free from odor, but also to leave a minimal operation scar. In practice, however, many patients suffer from unfavorable axillary operation scars. Therefore, we herein report various postoperative axillary scars which we experienced. From January 1991 to December 2006, a total of 270 patients(74 men and 196 women) whose axillary osmidrosis had been treated by various methods more than once were included. We observed pre-existing operation scars of recurred patients who wanted revisional operation. Among the total patients, 118 patients had been treated once, 138 patients less than 5 times, and 14 patients more than 5 times. Previous treatment methods included excision in 216 cases, laser in 188 cases, subdermal excision in 63 cases, ultrasonic liposuction in 25 cases, Kobayashi insulated needles in 29 cases, and botulinum toxin injection in 1 case. We observed irregular scar, wide spread scar, hypertrophic scar, postburn scar, depressed scar, and pigmented scar. Pre-existing operation scars were not improved enough by revisional operation. We propose that it is important to select a proper method to effectively get rid of an axillary odor, leaving a minimal operation scar, because axillary area is not optimal for scar revision.