Optimized settings for Nd:YAG laser treatments of leg telangiectasias

Abstract

Background and objectives: Telangiectasias of the lower extremities are very common. The objective of this study was to investigate whether the visual control of clinical signs for coagulation is needed to obtain an efficient treatment. Study design/Materials and methods: A total of 28 pairs of close-to-identical telangiectasias located on their lower extremities of 14 Caucasian females were included in the study. One of the paired vessels was randomly treated with a theoretically optimized and clinically verified fixed fluence (FF). The fluence on the other vessel was manually adjusted to the lowest level that resulted in visual coagulation or obstruction of blood flow (judged fluence [JF]). One or two treatments were made. Results: By the four-month follow-up the same high degree of clinically evaluated vessel clearance of 2.6 (0–4 scale) was obtained for both the FF- and JF-treated vessels (P > 0.95, power = 0.60). The JF-treated group showed a significant higher incidence of hyperpigmentation 39.3% versus 28.6% (P = 0.05). Conclusions: As the vessel clearance was equal in both groups, these results strongly indicate that the use of fixed, clinically proven standard device laser settings lead to fewer side effects and should be recommended as the most safe Nd:YAG laser treatment for leg telangiectasias.

Key Words::

• Leg telangiectasias
• Long pulsed Nd:YAG
• Spot size
• Pulse duration

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.