Striae Distensae: Prophylaxis and Treatment
Striae Distensae: Prophylaxis and Treatment
We conducted searches of Medline, Embase and Google Scholar in order to identify relevant studies relating to SD published from 1950 to 2013. Articles in French, Spanish, Turkish and Portuguese were translated into English for inclusion. 'Stretch marks', 'striae distensae', 'striae gravidarum', 'striae rubrae', 'striae albae' and 'striae atrophicans' were the search terms used. Information was obtained from review articles and primary research papers. Articles were grouped by primary treatment strategy. Articles were assessed and assigned a level of evidence (LOE) adapted from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. These levels, ranging from LOE-1 to LOE-5, are based on study methodology and design ( Table 1 ).
Methods
We conducted searches of Medline, Embase and Google Scholar in order to identify relevant studies relating to SD published from 1950 to 2013. Articles in French, Spanish, Turkish and Portuguese were translated into English for inclusion. 'Stretch marks', 'striae distensae', 'striae gravidarum', 'striae rubrae', 'striae albae' and 'striae atrophicans' were the search terms used. Information was obtained from review articles and primary research papers. Articles were grouped by primary treatment strategy. Articles were assessed and assigned a level of evidence (LOE) adapted from the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. These levels, ranging from LOE-1 to LOE-5, are based on study methodology and design ( Table 1 ).