Comparative study between the efficacy of fractional CO2 laser, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm), and both types in treatment of keratosis pilaris”
Sobhi, R.M., Adawy, N.A.H. & Zaky, I.S.
Lasers in medical science, 35; 1367–1376, 2020.
Background:
The aim of this study was to assess and compare the efficacy of fractional CO2 laser, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm), and their combined use in treatment of keratosis pilaris.
Materials and Methods:
The study included twenty female patients. For each patient, three areas were randomly assigned to treatment by either fractional CO2 laser (area A) or Q-switched laser (1064 nm) (area C), or both types of laser (area B). All patients were assessed by digital photography at baseline and 1 month after the last session. Assessment was done by two non-blinded and two blinded investigators (blinded investigators do not know which area is treated with which machine and non-blinded knows).
Results:
Patients reported the degree of satisfaction or any adverse effects also after 1 month from the last session. The three treatment modalities led to overall improvement in the KP lesions. According to patients’ score and investigator two, area B showed statistically significant improvement compared to areas A and C (p=0.001 and p=0.039, respectively). The first blinded investigators’ assessment revealed that there was statistically significant improvement in area C compared to A and B (p = 0.023). The assessment of both investigator one and the second blinded investigator revealed that there was improvement in the three areas with no statistically significant difference between them.
Conclusion:
Both fractional CO2 and Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) proved to be safe and effective in the treatment of keratosis pilaris regarding not only pigmentation but also follicular prominence; their combination may have an additive effect.