Severe neck scarring: A consequence of fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing

Abstract

Fractional CO₂ laser resurfacing using aggressive treatment parameters may result in adverse effects comparable to those of fully ablative CO₂ laser resurfacing. A 45-year-old female underwent fractional CO₂ laser treatment of the neck. She contacted the author for treatment of the marked erythema, swelling, and perceived skin tightness that resulted from the resurfacing procedure. This case report describes how the author treated these complications, provides a plausible explanation for why they occurred, and recommends treatment modifications to minimize the risk of their occurrence.

KEYWORDS:

• Ablative
• adverse effects
• overlap
• thermal damage

Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the author, a co-founder of Cutagenesis, LLC (Lafayette, LA) and the distributor of Cutagenix^™, a treatment product used in this study. The author has served on the Medical Advisory Board of Lutronic (Princeton Junction, NJ, USA). The author is a funded speaker for Lumenis, Inc., Santa Clara, CA. Cutagenix was made available at no charge. The author certifies that all his affiliations with or financial involvement, within the past three years and foreseeable future (e.g., employment; consultancies; honoraria; speakers bureau; stock ownership or options; expert testimony; grants received or pending; patents filed, received, pending, or in preparation; royalties; or donation of medical equipment) with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript are completely disclosed. The author had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. The author thanks Mr. Fred Wilson, managing partner of WilWrite LLC, for editorial assistance in preparing this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The author is a founder of Cutagenesis, LLC. The author alone are responsible for the content and writing of the report.