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The use of cooling vacuum-assisted, nonablative, nonfractional, 1540-nm Erbium:Glass laser therapy is a safe and effective modality for the simultaneous treatment of acne scars and acne lesions, according to the results of a study conducted in Israel and published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.
A total of 22 patients (14 women, 8 men) with mild to moderate acne and moderate to severe acne scars were enrolled in the study. All patients received treatment with a cooling vacuum-assisted 1540-nm laser. The participants’ acne lesions and scars were exposed to 3 to 4 stacked pulses that were emitted at a rate of 3 Hz for ≤2 passes per treatment session (spot size, 4 mm; fluence, 400-600 mJ/pulse), for a total of 3 to 7 treatments with 2- to 3-week intervals between treatments.
All patients were followed up at 1 and 3 months after their last treatments. Clinical assessment included overall aesthetic appearance, acne lesions, and acne scars, which were evaluated independently by 2 dermatologists and graded on a scale of 0 (exacerbation), 1 (1%-25% improvement), 2 (26%-50% improvement), 3 (51%-75% improvement), and 4 (76%-100% improvement), along with pain perception, adverse effects, and patient satisfaction.
Pain perception and adverse effects were estimated by the dermatologists with use of a 0 to 3 grading scale (0=none, 1=mild, 2=moderate, and 3=severe). Patient satisfaction, which was assessed at each treatment visit and at 1 and 3 months after the final follow-up visit, was graded on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=not satisfied and 5=very satisfied).
Of the 22 participants, all but 1 completed the treatment and follow-up. These 21 participants reported moderate to significant improvement in all outcomes, as follows: overall aesthetic appearance, mean 3.9 (1-mo) and 3.75 (3-mo) improvement; acne lesions, mean 3.5 (1-mo) and 2.3 (3-mo) improvement; and scarring, mean 4 (1-mo) and 4.2 (3-mo) improvement. Adverse effects and pain were mild and transient in nature. Participants’ mean satisfaction was 4.2±0.8.
The investigators concluded that additional studies with a larger number of patients and longer follow-up periods are warranted to determine the long-term efficacy of this treatment modality. Moreover, studies to examine the use of combination therapies (ie, systemic and locally administered) would be valuable.
Reference
Politi Y, Levi A, Snast I, Ad-El D, Lapidoth M. Integrated cooling-vacuum-assisted non-fractional 1540-nm Erbium:Glass laser: a new modality for the simultaneous effective treatment of acne lesions and scars. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(11):1173-1176.
