Surg Cosmet Dermatol. 2010;2(1):34-38
Introduction: Fractional ablative procedures offer more robust results, with shorter recovery time and lower risk of adverse effects compared to non-fractional ablative methods.
Objective: To evaluate the effects of a new fractional ablative technology employing Erbium laser(2,940nm) in facial photoaging.
Methods: Female patients with moderate facial photodamage were subjected to treatment with a 2,940nm fractional Erbium laser (Palomar Inc., Burlington MA).The parameters varied from 5 to
9 mJ/µb, with pulses of a duration from 250 microseconds to 5 milliseconds.Two to six passes with a 50% overlap were carried out.The clinical evaluations occurred 3 days, 1,4,8 and 12 weeks, and 15 months after the procedure.Three dermatologists who were not involved in the study evaluated
the global improvement of the photodamage before and 3 months after the procedures, by reviewing digital pictures, and classified the results according to the following scale: grade 1 = improvement less than 25%; grade 2 = improvement of 26% to 50%; grade 3 = improvement of 51% to 75% and grade 4 = improvement from 76 to 100%.
Results: Female patients (n =12), aged 48 to 78 were studied.After 3 months, 23% of the patients were classified as grade 3, 55% as grade 2 and 22% as grade 1. Significant improvement (grade 2)
was observed in 78% and 63% of the periorbital and perioral wrinkles, respectively.Two patients developed transitory post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Conclusion: The fractional Erbium laser was shown to be effective and safe in the treatment of moderate photoaging.
Keywords: ERBIUM, LASERS, ABLATION TECHNIQUES, REJUVENATION, LASER THERAPY
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