Impact of Perioperative Antibiotic Use on Surgical Scarring (PASS)

July 30, 2026 updated by: Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University

Perioperative Antibiotic Use and Its Impact on Postoperative Scarring: A Retrospective Study

This retrospective observational cohort study will evaluate whether perioperative antibiotic use is associated with long-term surgical scar outcomes. The study will include adult patients who underwent body surface surgery at Nanfang Hospital between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2025 and have available surgical, medication, and scar-related clinical records.

The study will not assign participants to any treatment. Researchers will review existing medical records, perioperative antibiotic exposure, surgical characteristics, complications, and scar assessments or photographs. Scar outcomes will be assessed using modified visual analogue scale scores, scar width, scar type, and scar-related complications.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
5000

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • China
    • Guangdong
      • Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 510515
        • Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study population will include adult patients who underwent body surface surgery at Nanfang Hospital between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2025, developed a linear surgical incision scar, and later presented to the Department of Plastic Surgery for scar-related care. Eligible patients must have available surgical records, perioperative medication records, and scar outcome information.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 years or older.
  • Underwent body surface surgery at Nanfang Hospital between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2025, with a linear surgical incision scar.
  • Presented to the Department of Plastic Surgery at Nanfang Hospital for surgical scar-related care.
  • Had no medical encounter record at Nanfang Hospital from January 1, 2025 to the time of study screening.
  • Available clear surgical records and perioperative medication records.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Known tendency for pathological scarring or scar constitution.
  • History of chronic skin disease in the surgical area, such as psoriasis or eczema.
  • Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, malnutrition, hypoalbuminemia, or long-term use of immunosuppressive agents or glucocorticoids.
  • Target scar received any scar-specific treatment after surgery, such as laser therapy, radiotherapy, drug injection, or surgical revision.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Retrospective Surgical Scar Cohort
Adult patients who underwent body surface surgery at Nanfang Hospital between January 1, 2005 and January 1, 2025 and have available surgical records, perioperative medication records, and scar outcome information.
Other: Perioperative Antibiotic Exposure
Patterns of perioperative antibiotic use documented in existing medical records, including timing, indication, antibiotic type, duration, frequency, and route of administration. No antibiotic treatment will be assigned or provided by the study.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Overall Scar Appearance Score Assessed Using a Modified Visual Analogue Scale
Time Frame: Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Overall scar appearance will be evaluated from scar photographs by three blinded physicians or trained study personnel using a modified visual analogue scale. Scores range from 1 to 10, with 1 indicating appearance similar to normal skin and 10 indicating the worst imaginable scar appearance.
Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Scar Color Score Assessed Using a Modified Visual Analogue Scale
Time Frame: Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar color will be evaluated from scar photographs by three blinded physicians or trained study personnel using a modified visual analogue scale. Scores range from 1 to 10, with lower scores indicating color more similar to normal skin and higher scores indicating worse scar color.
Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar Texture Score Assessed Using a Modified Visual Analogue Scale
Time Frame: Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar texture will be evaluated from scar photographs by three blinded physicians or trained study personnel using a modified visual analogue scale. Scores range from 1 to 10, with lower scores indicating texture more similar to normal skin and higher scores indicating worse scar texture.
Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar Width
Time Frame: Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar width will be calculated from scar photographs by outlining the scar boundary and using ImageJ to measure scar area and scar length. Scar width will be calculated as scar area divided by scar length.
Scar photographs were taken during postoperative clinical follow-up, with an overall range from 3 months to 20 years after surgery. Given the wide span, the assessments will be stratified and reported according to the actual time of photography, for exam
Scar-Related Complications
Time Frame: Postoperative days 0 to 30 (inclusive). The timing of each complication was determined from medical records.
Scar-related complications will be identified from medical records and scar assessments, including wound dehiscence, suture reaction, necrosis, hematoma, infection, persistent itching, persistent pain, and sensory abnormalities.
Postoperative days 0 to 30 (inclusive). The timing of each complication was determined from medical records.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 3, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 15, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
August 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 30, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 3, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 30, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • NFEC-2026-164
  • MR-44-26-022534 (Other Identifier: National Health Commission, China)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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