Treatment of rhinophyma with Er:YAG laser.
OBJECTIVE
Rhinophyma is a benign, disfiguring disorder of the nose which presents the end stage of acne rosacea, and can also occasionally result in nasal airway obstruction. We describe the first series of patients treated with Erbium laser.


METHODS
Severe-to-moderate rhinophyma in six patients were treated at our institution between 1995 and 1996, using the Erbium:YAG (Erb:YAG) laser.


RESULTS
All patients achieved marked cosmetic improvement, with no complications. Post-operative healing time was seven to fourteen days-significantly shorter than similar other modalities.


CONCLUSIONS
The Erbium laser provides very accurate tissue ablation and allows the sculpturing of the hypertrophied areas, offering good cosmetic results, with a very short healing period as shown in our study.
Orenstein
A
A
Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns, Sheba Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, University of Tel-Aviv, Tel-Hashomer, Israel. dr_jhaik.Hotmail.com
Haik
J
J
Tamir
J
J
Winkler
E
E
Frand
J
J
Zilinsky
I
I
Kaplan
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery; D004871:Erbium; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000601:surgery; D012224:Rhinophyma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014945:Wound Healing
D004871:Erbium