Comparison of wound healing using the CO2 laser at 10.6 mu m and 9.55 mu m

Objectives/Hypothesis: The wound healing characteristics of incisions made with the short pulsed CO(2)laser tuned to 9.55 mum versus the traditional 1 0.6 mum were investigated. Previous studies have shown that at 9.55 mum, co llagen is targeted more selectively than at 10.6 mum, which results in decr eased acute thermal injury patterns. This study investigates the difference in wound healing over time between lasers and compares laser incisions wit h cold knife techniques. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial using a porcine model. Methods: Tissue from 10.6-mum and 9.55-mum incisions of 10 p iglets was evaluated with histological analysis and tensiometry at 3, 7, 14 , and 21 days postoperatively, A Bonferroni-Dunn corrected analysis of vari ance analysis at a 95% significance level was used to compare the effect of wavelength. Results: The results demonstrate that although knife incisions are consistently stronger than laser incisions, the 9.55-mum CO2 laser inc isions are no stronger than incisions made with the conventional 10.6-mum l aser. Furthermore, histological analysis shows no difference in lateral the rmal damage between lasers at 3, 7, 14, and 21 days postoperatively. The pr ogression of collagen formation and inflammation does not differ over time. Conclusion: This study of wound healing using a porcine model demonstrates that the 9.55-mum CO2 laser does not demonstrate an improvement in wound h ealing over the traditional 10.6-mum CO2 laser. These results may be second ary to the common:explosive vaporization mechanism produced by both lasers in the infrared spectrum.