Background: Surgical scars are a common cosmetic problem that occurs in various surgical fields including dermatology. Diverse trials have been made to prevent this annoying scar formation. Recently, 585- and 595-nm pulsed dye laser irradiation presented satisfactory cosmetic outcome for the treatment of surgical scars. Other fractionated lasers or light devices were also applied for scar treatment.
Objective: To determine the effectiveness and safety of a newly developed 1,550-nm fractional erbium-glass laser in the prevention of scar formation after total thyroidectomy.
Materials and methods: Twenty-seven ethnic South Korean patients with linear surgical suture lines after total thyroidectomy operation were treated with a 1,550-nm fractional erbium-glass laser. The same surgeon performed all of the operations using the same surgical techniques. Each patient was treated four times at 1-month intervals using the same parameters (5- x 10-mm spot size, 10 mJ, 1,500 spot/cm(2), static mode). Initiation of the first irradiation was made approximately 2 to 3 weeks after the thyroidectomy. The scar prevention effects were evaluated each month for 6 months after thyroidectomy. Two kinds of assessment methods were applied in this evaluation. First, the Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) was used. Second, three independent physicians gave a global assessment valuation to the final cosmetic results: poor (1), fair (2), good (3), or excellent (4). These results were compared with the surgical scars of a control group (patients who denied laser treatments and had no other treatments during the 6 months after total thyroidectomy by the same surgeon).
Results: The average VSS score was lower in the laser treatment group. The global assessment also presented better cosmetic outcomes in the treatment group than in the controls.
Conclusion: A new 1,550-nm fractional erbium-glass laser may efficiently repress the formation and hypertrophy of thyroidectomy scars on the neck, and it can be safely applied in relatively dark Asian skin without noticeable adverse effects.