A Comparison of the Scar Prevention Effect Between Carbon Dioxide Fractional Laser and Pulsed Dye Laser in Surgical Scars

Abstract

BACKGROUND The use of ablative lasers based on the fractional approach is a novel strategy for the treatment of postoperative and acne scars in addition to wrinkles. OBJECTIVE To evaluate and compare the efficacy of carbon dioxide ablative fractional laser (AFL) and the pulsed dye laser (PDL) for the improvement of surgical scars. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fourteen Korean patients with surgical scars were enrolled for this study. Half of each scar was treated with a 10,600-nm AFL and the contralateral half with the 595-nm PDL. For early intervention of the postoperative scar, the laser treatments were begun after 2 weeks from the Mohs micrographic surgery. RESULTS Both PDL and AFL produced statistically significant improvements. However, comparatively, there was no statistical difference between them. In each variable, AFL was more effective than PDL in the improvement of pliability and thickness. In contrast, PDL was superior to AFL in the improvement of vascularity and pigmentation. CONCLUSION Pulsed dye laser and AFL treatments for surgical scar provide significant improvement. Pulsed dye laser was more effective in color of scar compared with AFL, which showed marked improvement in the contour of scar. Overall improvement was not statistically different in the Vancouver Scar Scale.