Title : Treatment of Macular, Hypertrophic and Keloid Scars Using Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)
Abstract:
Background: Scarrings are distressing to patients. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) for Chinese patients with macular, hypertrophic and keloid scars.
Methods: 4 cases of macular, hypertrophic and keloid scars on different body areas were included in this case study. All of them were treated with IPL, cutoff filters of 515-755nm, pulse durations of 3-6 ms, pulse delay of 10-40ms, fluence of 10-22 J/cm2, double and triple pulses, number of treatments:10-18. Case 1: scald, hypertrophic scar at the right wrist. Case 2: and 3 cutter-assaulted and Traffic accident macular, surgical scar. Case 3: Hypertrophic post surgical chin scar. Case 4: hypertrophic, surgical scar at the left elbow.
The treatments were performed tri-weekly until the patients were satisfied with the cosmetic results. No adjuvant therapy like steroid injection was given to any of the patient. Clinical photos were taken every time before treatment. 2 individual blinded investigators were asked to assess and compare with the pretreatment photos. Patient satisfaction rates were asked before the first and the last treatment. Side effects were monitored.
Results: There was an overall clinical improvement in the hyperpigmentation, thickness, hardness, redness of the scars in all 4 patients (100%).
The improvement was excellent in 3 of them (75%) and good in 25%. The effects of IPL treatments were long-lasting. All 4 patients showed a high patient satisfaction rate.
Conclusion: This study suggests IPL is effective in improving the erythema, hardness, thickness as well as the appearance scars secondary to a variety of causes. The results were long-lasting.
