title: Burn scars treated by pinhole method using a carbon dioxide laser.
abstract: Many patients with burn injuries have various complications and emotional problems due to scars. Although various modalities to improve burn scars have been attempted, such as excision of scars, skin grafts, laser abrasion and silicone product usage, the cosmetic outcomes have not been satisfactory for a large portion of patients. Herein, we describe two cases which showed satisfactory cosmetic results after treatment of burns scars with the pinhole method using a carbon dioxide (CO(2)) laser that allowed us to make deep, closely set holes reaching down to the upper dermis. A 20-year-old female patient with a scar on her neck and a 25-year-old female patient with a scar on her right forearm after burn injuries are presented. As early as only a few weeks after the treatment, the scars showed relaxation of contracture, reduction of wrinkles and improvement of texture and color compared to before the treatment. Treatment of burn scars with the pinhole method can be easily performed and results in dramatic improvement in scar quality with only a few side-effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Whang
authors.forename: Kyu-Yeop
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Sang Joo
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin Moon
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Young Koo
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: In Hwan
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Kee Yang
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002921:Cicatrix / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003286:Contracture / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D005543:Forearm Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide