Early Management of Scars Using a 532-nm Nd:YAG Laser.

Facial scars cause individuals to experience psychological stress and social withdrawal, reducing their quality of life [1-7]. In order to minimize facial scars, a wide range of treatment methods have been developed and utilized. These techniques include surgical scar revision, steroid injections, silicone gel and sheet application, cryosurgery, anti-cancer drug injections (e.g., 5-fluorouracil or bleomycin), and laser irradiation [8-13]. Among these techniques, laser therapy is considered the least invasive. In 1993, a pulsed dye laser was first used for scar treatments, and many treatments and procedures have since been developed with different light sources, wavelengths, and durations [14-21]. Laser therapy is generally postponed until scar maturation. Therefore, it is quite common for patients to suffer due to the redness, hyperpigmentation, and hypertrophy of the scar. We thus speculated that the use of laser therapy at the beginning of the wound healing process might minimize these problems at an early stage. A 532-nm frequency-doubled Q-switched neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser is commonly used to treat superficial pigmented lesions (e.g., postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma, lentigines, café au lait macules, Becker nevus, ephelides, and tattoos) [22]. Some studies have shown that the 532-nm wavelength is easily absorbed by hemoglobin and melanin materials, which can be beneficial for the improvement of redness, Jun-Young Jang, Jin Ho Han, Kun Chul Yoon, Hyun Woo Shin, Yong Seong Kim, June-Kyu Kim