Vascularity and Thickness Changes in Immature Hypertrophic Scars Treated With a Pulsed Dye Laser

Background and Objectives Growth of capillaries is an essential process after a dermal injury. An immature scar with robust growth of capillaries tends to be hypertrophic. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) causes damage to microvascular structures and is increasingly used for early erythematous scars to limit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Lasers in surgery and medicine 2021-09, Vol.53 (7), p.914-921
Main Authors: Deng, Huan, Tan, Teresa, Luo, Gaoxing, Tan, Jianglin, Li‐Tsang, Cecilia W.P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blood
blood perfusion
Capillaries
Dye lasers
Dyes
Erythema
hypertrophic scar
Laser damage
Lasers
Microvasculature
Patients
Perfusion
Pigmentation
pulsed dye laser
scar erythema
Scars
Thickness
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Summary:Background and Objectives Growth of capillaries is an essential process after a dermal injury. An immature scar with robust growth of capillaries tends to be hypertrophic. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) causes damage to microvascular structures and is increasingly used for early erythematous scars to limit scar growth. To have a better understanding of the impact of PDL on scar vascularity and to optimize the clinical use of PDL for managing hypertrophic scars, this study aimed to explore changes in scar erythema, blood perfusion, and thickness of immature hypertrophic scars in Asian patients who received PDL treatments at an early stage. Study Design/Materials and Methods This was a 3‐month, assessor‐blinded, clinical study. There were two groups of patients, the PDL group and the control group, who had hypertrophic scars less than 1‐year post‐injury. Patients in the PDL group received three PDL sessions at 4‐week intervals. A total of three assessments were performed, at baseline, 1 and 3 months, consisting of the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) and objective measurements of scar erythema, blood perfusion, and scar thickness. Results A total of 45 patients were enrolled, 22 in the PDL group and 23 in the control group. After the 3‐month treatment, parameters of scar vascularity (P = 0.003), pigmentation (P = 0.026), color (P 
ISSN:0196-8092
1096-9101
DOI:10.1002/lsm.23366