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Treatment of acne scars with fractional CO 2 laser at 1‐month versus 3‐month intervals: An intra‐individual randomized controlled trial
Author(s) -
Bjørn Marie,
StausbølGrøn Birgitte,
Braae Olesen Anne,
Hedelund Lene
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.22165
Subject(s) - medicine , acne scars , scars , adverse effect , surgery , acne , confidence interval , atrophy , ablative case , randomized controlled trial , dermatology , radiation therapy
Background Treatment of acne scars with ablative fractional CO 2 laser appears to be an effective and well‐tolerated treatment. However, so far the influence of treatment interval has not been evaluated. Objective To evaluate whether treatment of acne scars with fractional CO 2 laser resurfacing at 1‐month interval achieves better results with no difference in the occurrence of adverse effects, than treatment given at 3‐months interval. Methods Patients ( n = 13) with symmetrical atrophic acne scars on right and left sides of the mid‐face and lower‐face were randomized to two fractional CO 2 laser treatments at 1‐month versus 3‐month intervals. Blinded on‐site evaluations were performed 1 and 6 months after the last treatment on 10‐point scales. Endpoints were scar atrophy, patient satisfaction, and adverse effects. Results Pre‐operatively, acne scars were moderately atrophic (5.86 ± 1.87). After treatment acne scars appeared with less atrophy on both treated sides 1 month postoperatively (1‐month interval 1.96 ± 1.23, P < 0.0001; 3‐months interval 1.82 ± 1.08, P = 0.0006) and 6 months postoperatively (1‐month interval 1.56 ± 1.24, P = 0.0021; 3‐months interval 1.33 ± 1.66, P = 0.0002). The treatment interval did not influence the improvement of scar atrophy at any time postoperatively ( P = 0.81). Patients were moderately and equally satisfied with the treatment result on facial sides ( P = 0.93). Postoperative adverse effects were minor and not influenced by the treatment interval. Conclusions Fractional CO 2 laser resurfacing improves atrophic acne scars and a treatment interval of either 1‐month or 3‐months does not seem to influence the improvement of scar atrophy nor the occurrence of postoperative adverse effects. Lasers Surg. Med. 46:89–93, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.