Introduction: Striae are frequent complaints in dermatology, however most studies are based on the use of laser, and the effects of other treatment modalities are observed by few doctors. ,Objective: To compare three therapeutic modalities: Subcision alone, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) 20% alone, and subcision combined with application of TCA 20% in treatment of striae. Materials and Methods: Eleven female patients, skin phototype II-IV with striae gravidarum, had their lower abdomen divided into 4 quadrants. One stria of each quadrant was selected to be subjected to one of 3 procedures and 1 quadrant was the control. Objective evaluation was performed by the physician and subjective evaluation was performed by the patient. Results: Reduction in width with subcision and in length with TCA 20% were observed by measurement. In the subjective evaluation, improvement was observed mainly with the subcision-TCA 20% treatment. Photografic evaluation was disregarded. At statistical analysis, there was no significant difference between treatments. There were no adverse effects related to treatments. Conclusion: Despite the reported improvement, especially with the subcision-TCA 20% treatment, there was no statistically signifi cant difference between treatments.

Keywords: STIRAE, TRICHLOROACETIC ACID, PREGNANCY, DERMATOLOGY

Introduction: Abdominal striae(i.e. stretch marks) are considered scars, for which there are no known treatments.
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of three treatments: subcision, 20% trichloroacetic acid, and subcision + 20% trichloroacetic acid in the treatment of stretch marks.
Methods: The lower abdomens of 11 patients with stretch marks were divided into four quadrants. Each patient had one stria selected for a single treatment session; the three treatments (subcision, 20% trichloroacetic acid, and subcision + 20% trichloroacetic acid) were administered in 3 quadrants, and the 4th quadrant served as a control. Each selected stria was biopsied before and after 12 weeks. The Wilcoxon test was used to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used to evaluate the differences between the treatments.
Results: In all treatments there was a reduction in the mean value after treatment, however the 20% trichloroacetic acid treatment was statistically significant for the epidermal parameter and the collagen fiber staining. The subcision associated with 20% trichloroacetic acid presented a statistically significant result in the superficial dermis parameter, while the isolated subcision was significant in the superficial dermis parameter only.
Conclusions: These treatments are safe and present low operating costs, which make them a great alternative for treating abdominal striae. Future studies should conduct a clinical-histological evaluation after a greater number of sessions.

Keywords: STRIAE DISTENSAE, DERMATOLOGY, AMBULATORY SURGICAL PROCEDURES, SURGICAL PROCEDURES, MINOR, CHEMEXFOLIATION