Safely Improving the Aesthetic Quality of Scars Via Lasers

A recent study published in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine (LSM), the official journal of the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, Inc. (ASLMS), reported that laser treatment of elective surgery scars within the first weeks resulted in improved texture and pigment over the standard silicone gel treatment.

The research was conducted by Luiz Ronaldo Alberti MD, PhD; Eduardo Faria Vicari, MD; Roselaine De Souza Jardim Vicari; and Andy Petroianu, MD, Phd. Their manuscript titled, “Early use of CO₂ Lasers and Silicone Gel on Surgical Scars: Prospective Study” was selected as Editor’s Choice in the August 2017 issue of LSM.

“Applications using fractional CO₂ lasers, widely used to treat the sequelas of acne, for rejuvenation, stretch marks, and hypertrophic scars, have proven to be promising procedures in achieving the quality of the final aesthetics of the scar,” says  Alberti, associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in a media release from the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery.

“This manuscript compared the aesthetic quality of scars in two groups of patients. One group was treated with super-pulsed fractional CO₂ laser applications in contrast with the other group that used only the silicone gel on the scar after plastic surgery. We demonstrated, according to the Vancouver scale, that the early use of the fractional CO₂ laser can be used safely, to improve the aesthetic quality of scars from elective surgeries in the second and in the sixth months.”

[Source: American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery]