Lower Fluence Laser Effective Against Severe Acne

Lower Fluence Laser Effective Against Severe Acne
May 30, 2007
NATHAN S. UEBELHOER, DO, JEFFREY S. DOVER, MD, KENNETH A. ARNDT, MD, AND THOMAS E. ROHRER, MD
HealthDay

Pulsed treatments with a 1,450-nanometer diode laser at lower fluences are effective for inflammatory acne and cause less pain than high-fluence treatments, researchers report in the May issue of Dermatologic Surgery.

Nathan Uebelhoer, D.O., of the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, and colleagues studied 11 inflammatory acne patients treated with a 1,450-nm laser set at 11 Joules per square centimeter or less depending on tolerance. Using a split-face technique, half the patients' faces were treated using a double-pass single pulse approach, the other half with a single-pass of stacked double pulses.

The researchers found that the mean pain rating for double-pass treatment was 5.12 with 49.8 percent acne diminution, and 5.33 for stacked-pulse treatment with 57.6 percent acne diminution. Scarring improved in 83 percent of patients with acne scars. Two stacked-pulse sides developed transient hyperpigmentation, but fully healed.

"The pulsed, 1,450-nm diode laser can be used at lower fluences that elicit less discomfort yet effectively improve inflammatory acne," the authors write. "Stacking pulses appears to render a slightly higher efficacy than the multipass technique. Single-pulse, multiple-pass treatments may have a lower risk of cryogen-induced transient hyperpigmentation compared to standard high-fluence techniques."

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