No difference for standard, high-pulse picosecond laser treatment

(HealthDay)—There is no significant difference between standard and high-pulse coverage with picosecond laser treatment for wrinkles and acne scarring, according to a study published online Nov. 15 in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.

Christine Dierickx, M.D., from the Skinperium Laser Clinic in Boom, Belgium examined the clinical benefit for a higher than standard protocol for number of pulses delivered to a tissue area compared with the standard protocol guidelines from the same 755-nm picosecond laser for seven subjects with acne scarring and wrinkles.

Dierickx found that the average improvement from baseline to final follow-up did not differ significantly between the two sides (P > 0.05) for the three subjects with acne scarring. The average grading of the standard and high-pulse side improved from baseline to final follow-up among the four wrinkle subjects, with no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). Comparison of baseline to final follow-up images showed much or very much improvement for both sides, with no significant difference between the standard and high-pulse sides (P > 0.05).

"The use of higher than standard suggested protocol number of pulses with the diffractive lens array and the 755-nm picosecond laser does not appear to offer any additional benefit over that that can already be achieved with the standard number of pulses, but also does not increase risk of detrimental post-treatment effects either," Dierickx writes.

The author disclosed financial ties to Cynosure.