Immediate postoperative laser resurfacing improves second intention healing on the nose: 5-year experience.
BACKGROUND
Mohs surgery defects on convex nasal surfaces do not reliably heal well by second intention. Prior to the availability of laser resurfacing we found that immediate postoperative dermabrasion improved the predicted outcome from second intention healing for these defects.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the ability of immediate postoperative CO2 and Er:YAG laser resurfacing to improve predicted healing by second intention.


METHODS
Seventy-four patients with Mohs surgical defects on the nose underwent immediate postoperative resurfacing with either a scanned CO2 or long-pulsed Er:YAG laser. Thirty patients had photographs of appropriate quality and follow-up for evaluation by a panel of nine objective physicians.


RESULTS
All 74 patients were satisfied with their result and none have requested scar revision. Of the 30 patients evaluated by the panel, all were scored acceptable to excellent.


CONCLUSIONS
Immediate laser resurfacing can improve the predicted outcome from second intention healing on the nose and should be considered for select patients.
Ammirati
C T
CT
Penn State College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033-0850, USA.
Cottingham
T J
TJ
Hruza
G J
GJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D009666:Nose / Q000601:surgery*; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D011182:Postoperative Care; D014945:Wound Healing