title: Wound healing after laser injury to skin--the effect of occlusion and vitamin E.
abstract: The skin of Yorkshire pigs was irradiated with various doses of argon and copper-vapor laser and evaluated for effects on healing time of pretreatment with topical or intramuscular vitamin E or the Op-Site wound dressing. Incident irradiance for both lasers was between 3.5 and 4.5 W/cm2 for a 10-14-mm beam diameter with a nearly uniform intensity profile. Minimal erythemic dose for the copper-vapor laser was 35 +/- 2 J/cm2 (10 s exposure) and 22.4 +/- 0.1 J/cm2 (6-s exposure) for the argon laser. Three dose levels were administered: a low dose causing light erythema, an intermediate dose, and a high dose causing dermal stasis. The radiant exposures for low, intermediate, and high doses were 35, 70, and 138 J/cm2 for the copper-vapor laser and 22.4, 55, and 129 J/cm2 for the argon laser. Exposure to argon and copper-vapor lasers generally caused wounds with similar healing times. Healing time was significantly decreased for wounds caused by intermediate exposure of the copper-vapor laser and either pretreated with vitamin E or treated with the wound dressing. Healing times for corresponding argon-laser exposure were significantly decreased with pretreatment of intramuscular vitamin E only or after treatment with the wound dressing. These findings may be valuable in selecting treatment for accidental laser skin injuries in man.
authors.affiliation: Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Reifenrath
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: van Ravenswaay
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Stuck
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001458:Bandages; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D002056:Burns / Q000473:pathology*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D007834:Lasers; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D013552:Swine; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014810:Vitamin E