Efficacy and Safety of Ablative Resurfacing With A High‐Energy 1,064 Nd‐YAG Picosecond‐domain Laser for the Treatment of Facial Acne Scars in Asians

Abstract

Objectives There have been few studies regarding the use of a picosecond‐domain laser for acne scars in Asians. This prospective study evaluated the efficacy and safety of a high‐energy 1,064 nm Nd:YAG picosecond‐domain laser for ablation and resurfacing of facial acne scars in Asians. Methods Subjects were treated with a 1,064 nm picosecond laser (8 mm spot, 0.7–1.0 J/cm2, 5 Hz) every 4 weeks for three sessions. Two blinded dermatologists evaluated the pre‐ and 3‐month post‐treatment images with a 10‐point improvement scale. Subject pain, global improvement, and satisfaction were also assessed. The Facial Acne Scar Quality of Life (FASQoL) questionnaire was used to evaluate the subjects’ quality of life. Results Twenty subjects aged 18–50 years with Fitzpatrick skin type III–V were enrolled. The median dermatologist‐rated improvement score was 3 out of 10. Subjects were satisfied to very satisfied with global improvement. Subjects’ quality of life significantly improved with a median FASQoL score of 10 after treatment compared with 21 before treatment (P < 0.001). Adverse effects were limited to erythema, pain, and edema without postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. Conclusions The 1,064 nm picosecond‐domain laser with ablative resurfacing parameters is safe and effective for the treatment of acne scars in Asians. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Picosecond‐Domain Fractional Laser Treatment Over Hyaluronic Acid Fillers: In Vivo and Clinical Studies

“…Although some patients and dermatologists evaluated the acne scar status as "no improvement" after treatments, our results were similar to findings from other studies of picoseconds lasers used in more treatment sessions [12,38]. Deep atrophic acne scars may look similar even after substantial improvement with treatment, and this is more common when evaluated by the patients.…”

“…In our study, all three patients who were rated as having not responded to treatment based on both the patients' and the dermatologists' ratings on the 5-point scale, had more long-standing ice pick scars than did the other patients. This finding is consistent with previous results of less effect of non-ablative laser therapy on ice pick scars than on boxcar or rolling scars [12,38,39]. However, it is worth noting that we treated the patients in this study only twice, which is not sufficient for determining whether our treatments are ultimately ineffective.…”

“…Ablative lasers were superseded by fractionated lasers used to treat small areas of skin between the untreated zones, with which the side effects and downtime were significantly reduced. Recently, picosecond-domain lasers, conventionally developed to remove tattoos and pigmented lesions, have been modified to create fractionated arrays and are used to treat photoaged skin and acne scarring [8][9][10][11][12]. Although noninvasive facial resurfacing has many benefits, it may be necessary to perform combined treatments to optimize the outcomes.…”

A Prospective Study of Fractionated Dual‐Wavelength Picosecond Laser in Treating Acne Scar

“…Non‐ablative laser treatment may be used instead in this case, but the clinical effect can be mild. Since 2015, Brauer et al have used the picosecond laser with diffractive lens array to treat acne scarrng; there have been numerous publications about this topic since then [12,20,21] (Table 1).…”

Prospective and randomized comparative study of calcium hydroxylapatite vs calcium hydroxylapatite plus HIFU in treatment of moderate‐to‐severe acne scars

“…Managing acne scars is a challenge, 7‐10 and therapies are divided into nonsurgical and surgical. The former includes anti‐acne agents, 11,12 chemical peels, 13 microneedling, 14‐17 and ablative 18 and nonablative fractional 19‐22 and nonfractional 23 lasers, as well as autologous growth factors 24‐27 . The latter include subcision, 28‐30 autologous cell regeneration, 31 and autologous adipose‐derived stem cells 32 …”