Scar Management Through Serial Casting

June 9, 2026 updated by: Bernadette Nedelec, Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)
Scar management remains one of the major clinical challenges for burn survivors with hypertrophic scars. Beyond their visible appearance, hypertrophic scars can significantly impair physical function, reduce life satisfaction, and affect overall quality of life. According to the results of a recently completed study, the application of serial casts appears promising for the treatment of hypertrophic scars in adults who have survived a burn injury. However, this therapeutic approach has not yet been evaluated objectively in terms of scar characteristics within the context of a study with sufficient statistical power. The present project is the first study with sufficient statistical power to objectively evaluate the beneficial effects of serial casting on the characteristics of hypertrophic scars in adult burn survivors. The objective of this study is to characterize changes in thickness, elasticity, vascularization, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), itching, and pain in hypertrophic burn scars in adults after one week of treatment with serial dressings, compared to an intra-individual control scar. Our hypothesis is that relative to baseline measures the scar thickness (primary outcome), erythema index, TEWL, itch, and pain will decrease at treatment sites compared to control sites. Conversely, elasticity will increase at the treatment sites compared to control sites. This will be a prospective, longitudinal, evaluator-blinded, randomized intra-individual controlled trial.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This will be a prospective, longitudinal, evaluator-blinded, randomized intra-individual controlled trial. Participants will start serial casting on selected scars during 7 days for 24 hrs/day. The objective scar characteristics and the subjective scar quality appreciation level will be evaluated immediately before and immediately after serial casting, and then 3 weeks after the cast has been removed.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

38

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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 Backup

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • adult burn survivors who have two scars that meet the diagnostic criteria of a HSc (erythema index greater than 300 and thickness greater than 2.034 mm) and with no more than 0.5 mm thickness difference between each other;
  • are proficient in English and/or French;
  • provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients who sustained electrical or cold injury;
  • formed keloid scars or have only mature scars (erythema index less than 300);
  • have a a dermatological condition that could interfere with measurement reliability (eczema, psoriasis);
  • have a cognitive/psychiatric condition that could impaired understanding of the consent process or adherence to protocol procedures.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treated scar
Serial casting treatment
Other: Serial casted scar
At the preselected treatment site, a serial cast will be applied by a trained OT and worn by participant for 7 days.
No Intervention: Control scar
No intervention, standard of care only.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Skin Thickness Changes
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Ultrasound skin thickness (mm) measured by Dermascan
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Subjective Scar Satisfaction Level
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Subjective Scar Satisfaction Level evaluated by POSAS (Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale) v. 2.0 modified; visual analog scale (score 0-identical to- 10-very different from normal skin).
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Skin Erythema Changes
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Erythema index measure by Mexameter, values from 0 to 999. The erythema values are individual for each person and depend strongly on the skin type. The measurements are generally used to determine changes before and after a treatment.
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL)
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) measured by Tewameter.
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Skin Melanin Changes
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Melanin index measured by Mexameter
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Skin Elasticity Changes
Time Frame: right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention
Skin elasticity measures (mm) measured by Cutometer (r0)
right before intervention, right after intervention, three weeks after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Collaborators

Hôpital de réadaptation Villa Medica, Montreal

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bernadette Nedelec, PhD, OT(c), Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

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)

June 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 9, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2027-13669

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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