Combined laser treatment effective for ear keloids: Study
Italy: Treatment of ear keloids with a combination of lasers showed a synergistic effect and was found to be effective, according to results from a recent study. The study was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology on 10 November 2021.
The study showed that a combination laser treatment yielded an excellent outcome in 88% of treated lesions. There was a slightly higher prevalence of excellent outcome of the group which was treated with a further procedure with Enerjet.
Domenico Piccolo, Skin Center Avezzano, Private Practice, Avezzano, L'Aquila, Italy, and colleagues sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a combined protocol of CO2 laser + dye laser versus CO2 laser + dye laser + Enerjet in patients with ear keloids.
Keloids are benign fibrous tumors that are developed due to excessive proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen synthesis following an injury. They do not regress spontaneously. They may occur either on the helix or on the anterior or posterior lobe, up to several years after piercing.
The study included eighty patients with a total of 83 ear keloids. They were divided into two groups: One group has been treated in the same session with a single CO2 laser procedure + a pulsed Dye laser procedure; the second group has been treated as group one with an adjunctive Enerjet procedure.
Based on the study, the researchers found the following:
- Of the 40 patients for a total of 41 treated keloids in the first group, 85.4% of keloids did not recur during a follow-up period (3 months–7 years), 14.6% of the lesions recurred (6/41) with mild thickening of the scar and underwent to further treatments.
- The second group (40 patients, 42 keloids) results showed a 90.5% of keloids which did not recur during a follow-up period (3 months–2 years), while 9.5% of the lesions recurred (4/42) with mild thickening of the scar and underwent to further treatments.
"When combined together, lasers showed a synergistic effect and an excellent outcome has been obtained in the 88% of treated lesions, with a slighter higher prevalence of excellent outcome of the group treated with a further procedure with Enerjet," wrote the authors.
Reference:
The study titled, "Combined laser treatment for ear keloids: Case series," was published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.
