A retrospective study on the efficacy of external washing with artemisia annua water decoction combined with triamcinolone acetonide injection in the treatment of keloids

XIAO Ming; ZHANG Shuaishuai; CHEN Tianyu; YUAN Jilong; CAO Xiaoning

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-7040.2026.01.010

Abstract：Objective To investigate the efficacy of external washing with artemisia annua water decoction combined with triam-cinolone acetonide injection in treating keloids through a retrospective study.Methods A total of 94 patients with keloids treated in the Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery,The People's Hospital of Liaoning Province from September 2024 to March 2025 were en-rolled.According to whether artemisia annua water decoction washing was used,they were divided into a control group(49 cases)and an experimental group(45 cases).The control group received triamcinolone acetonide injection,while the experimental group received triam-cinolone acetonide injection combined with external washing of artemisia annua water decoction.The treatment course for both groups was 3 months.Scar severity,clinical efficacy,pain degree,pruritus degree,quality of life,coping style,aesthetic satisfaction,incidence of ad-verse reactions,and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups before and After 3 months treatment.Results After 3 months treatment,scores for color,vascularity,pliability,thickness,and total score in both groups decreased compared to those before treatment(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,all scar severity scores in the experimental group were lower(P＜0.05).After 3 months treat-ment,VAS and 12-PSS scores in both groups significantly decreased compared to before treatment(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the experimental group had lower VAS and 12-PSS scores(P＜0.05).After 3 months treatment,the total clinical effective rate in the experimental group was higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).After 3 months treatment,the quality of life scores in both groups in-creased significantly compared to before treatment(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the experimental group had a higher quality of life score(P＜0.05).After 3 months treatment,the scores for resignation and avoidance decreased,while the score for confrontation in-creased in both groups compared to before treatment(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the experimental group had lower scores for resignation and avoidance,and a higher score for confrontation(P＜0.05).After 3 months treatment,aesthetic satisfaction in the experi-mental group was higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the experimental group and the control group(P＞0.05).The recurrence rate in the experimental group(8.89％)was sig-nificantly lower than that in the control group(24.49％),P＜0.05.Conclusion The combination of external washing of artemisia annua de-coction and injection of triamcinolone acetonide has excellent therapeutic effects on scar tissue,high patient satisfaction with aesthetics,and has the potential for clinical promotion.