Laser therapy as a treatment for chronic radiation fibrosis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Chronic radiation fibrosis (CRF) is a long-term sequala of radiation therapy that has a significant impact on patient quality of life. There is no standard of care or single therapeutic modality that has been found to be consistently effective.

OBJECTIVE:

To describe our experience using fractional 10,600 nm carbon dioxide (CO2 ) laser therapy and vascular laser therapy in a series of patients with CRF.

METHODS:

Patients presenting to the dermatology service for CRF were evaluated for laser therapy eligibility. Patients were eligible if they had a clinical diagnosis of CRF confirmed by physical examination.

RESULTS:

We identified five patients with CRF treated with fractional ablative CO2 laser and vascular laser. Patients were a median age of 57 years old, and the amount of time between the initiation of radiotherapy and laser treatment ranged between 3 months and 40 years. The satisfactory response was achieved in all cases.

LIMITATIONS:

Lack of standardized laser protocol, small sample size, lack of a control group, different anatomical locations CONCLUSION: Fractional ablative and vascular laser therapy may serve as an additional treatment for CRF, leading to functional improvements.

• Authors: Britney Wilson, Rohan Shah, Christian Menzer, Abdullah Aleisa, Anthony Rossi
• Journal: Lasers in surgery and medicine (Lasers Surg Med) Vol. 55 Issue 1 Pg. 82-88 (01 2023) ISSN: 1096-9101 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 36349748 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)
• Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Chemical References

• Carbon Dioxide

Topics

• Humans
• Infant
• Treatment Outcome
• Radiation Fibrosis Syndrome
• Carbon Dioxide
• Quality of Life
• Laser Therapy (methods)
• Lasers, Gas (therapeutic use)