WATER FLUX FROM PARTIAL-THICKNESS SKIN WOUNDS - COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ER-YAG AND HO-YAG LASERS

Background and Objective: The clinical use of lasers to cut and coagul ate tissue necessitates a better understanding of how the residual the rmal damage affects healing. This study was designed to evaluate the e ffects of varying degrees of thermal damage on the healing process. St udy Design, Materials and Methods: Partial-thickness lesions were crea ted in guinea pig skin using an Er:YAG laser, a Ho:YAG laser, and a sc alpel. To monitor recovery of the stratum corneum, water flux from the wound sites was quantified and histological data obtained for approxi mately one week. Results: The data indicate an exponential water loss pattern from all wounds. Water flux from the scalpel- and the Er:YAG l aser-induced wounds was initially high but decreased rapidly with deca y rates (mean+/-SE) of 0.46+/-0.01 day(-1) and 0.38+/-0.01 day(-1), re spectively. The Ho:YAG laser-induced wounds demonstrated a different p attern of decay with lower water flux values initially and a decay rat e of only 0.13+/-0.01 day(-1). Conclusion: Histological and water flux data reveal that Er:YAG laser-induced wounds achieve epidermal integr ity only slightly after scalpel-induced lesions, and Ho:YAG laser-indu ced wounds heal substantially slower and contain more granulation tiss ue. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.