Cartilage shaping using the Er : YAG laser: Preliminary report

Cartilage grafts have been widely used for reconstruction of congenital or acquired deformities. Reshaping and preserving the new shape of the cartila ge grafts have been a problem. In this in vitro experimental study the auth ors studied the effect of the Er:YAG laser on cartilage reshaping in compar ison with scalpel stripping and suture holding, The study consisted four gr oups (n = 9): group I, untouched cartilage; group II, the short edges of th e cartilage were sutured to each other; group III, cartilage was incised us ing a scalpel; and group IV, Er:YAG laser stripping was applied to the cart ilage. Changes in the shape of cartilage were evaluated at 15 minutes, and days 1, 4, and 10. The majority of cartilage in the scalpel-stripped group returned to the initial shape by day 10, whereas the laser-stripped cartila ge showed progressive warping day by day, and almost all cartilage formed a circle by day 10. The Er:YAG laser enhanced cartilage warping by a mechani cal effect of stripping and a thermal effect of laser radiation resulting i n ultrastructural changes.