Efficacy of ablative fractional carbon dioxide laser combined with autologous platelet‐rich plasma versus ablative fractional carbon dioxide laser and placebo in the treatment of striae gravidarum: A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Striae gravidarum (SG) is a connective tissue disorder seen commonly in primigravidas. It is associated with impairment in the quality of life.Objective: To determine the efficacy of ablative fractional carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) laser combined with autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) versus ablative fractional CO 2 laser and placebo in the treatment of SG.Study design: Randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial. Methodology:The study was conducted in 16 patients with SG. The assigned treatment area (abdomen) was divided into two sides and was randomly assigned to the PRP side and the control side. All patients received ablative fractional CO 2 laser.Immediately after each laser procedure, the PRP side received autologous PRP, while the control side received plain normal saline solution (pNSS) as a placebo. The study was done for three sessions, at intervals of 4 weeks. An independent assessor used the photographs taken at Weeks 6, 10, 14, and 16 to assess the clinical improvement.The patient satisfaction was reported at the same intervals. A quartile grading scale was used to measure both the clinical improvement and patient satisfaction. Data were analyzed using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test. Histopathology was done before treatment and at the end of the study period. Results:The combination of ablative fractional CO 2 laser and autologous PRP had better clinical improvement and patients' satisfaction compared with ablative fractional CO 2 laser and placebo. However, both outcome measures were not statistically significant.

Evaluation of the efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells derived conditioned medium in the treatment of striae distensae: a double blind randomized clinical trial

“…While combination therapy is generally considered the best approach to SD, contradictory results have been observed in different studies involving various modalities [39][40][41]. A review study conducted in 2021 to evaluate the effectiveness of the PRP method in treating striae distensae revealed that the published studies in this field did not provide strong evidence of the effectiveness of PRP [42].…”

The Biological Role of Platelet Derivatives in Regenerative Aesthetics

“…However, Preclaro and colleagues [ 52 ] also studied the synergistic effect of a fractional CO 2 laser with PRP, albeit in striae gravidarum (S.G.), a connective-tissue dysfunction commonly observed in primigravidae. They evaluated 16 patients with S.G. treated with a fractional CO 2 laser followed by PRP on one side of the abdomen and with a fractional CO 2 laser followed by normal saline on the other.…”

New Progress in Therapeutic Modalities of Striae Distensae

“… 47 In the last two years, it has been shown that FrCO 2 combined with PRP is also an effective treatment for SD and is superior to FrCO 2 alone or PDL combined with PRP. 48 , 49 Some of the clinical trials of combined treatment modalities have been tabulated in Table 2 .…”