HEALING OF LASER INCISIONS IN RAT DERMIS - COMPARISONS OF THE CARBON-DIOXIDE LASER UNDER MANUAL AND COMPUTER CONTROL AND THE SCALPEL

Background and Objective: The Computer-Assisted Surgical Techniques (C AST) program was researched to decrease lateral tissue damage and impr ove wound healing subsequent to laser incision, CAST differs from the traditional laser because it makes the incision in a discontinuous man ner, allowing tissue to cool during the incision process. Study Design /Material and Methods: The transient temperature changes in the tissue adjacent to the incision were measured with a thermocouple in a rat m odel. The subsequent wound healing was studied with histology and tens iometry. Results: The thermal measurements demonstrated that all CAST settings were cooler than the continuous mode of laser incision. Howev er, histology and tensiometric studies showed mixed results. Conclusio n: This research demonstrates that CAST can be used in future surgical applications with no delay in wound healing as compared to the manual ly controlled laser. However, this study also finds no decrease in the wound healing time whets using the CAST program. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.