Comparison of outcome of Fractional Carbon dioxide Laser plus topical hyaluronic acid serum versus Fractional Carbon dioxide Laser alone in the treatment of post-acne scars

Abstract

Objective The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of outcome of fractional carbon dioxide (CO2) laser plus topical hyaluronic acid serum versus fractional CO2 laser alone in the treatment of post-acne scars.   Methods 300 patients of both genders 18 to 40 years who presented with post-acne scars were enrolled. One side of patient’s face was randomly allocated to treatment Group-A which received combination therapy of topical hyaluronic acid and fractional CO2 laser while the other side of face was allocated to treatment Group-B which was treated with fractional CO2 laser alone. Percent reduction in Goodman and Baron quantitative grading score from baseline was determined after 3 months of treatment and was graded as excellent, significant, moderate and slight improvement and was compared between the groups.   Results In this study, the mean age of the patients was 23.2±4.7 years. There were 90 (30.0%) male and 210 (70.0%) female patients with a male to female ratio of 1:2.3. Both the groups were comparable in terms of mean Goodman and Baron quantitative grading score at baseline (54.68±14.30 vs. 53.66±14.83; p-value=0.391). The mean score at follow-up was significantly lower in patients receiving combination therapy as compared to fractional CO2 laser alone (22.66±12.46 vs. 24.85±13.85; p-value=0.042). The frequency of excellent (17.0% vs. 14.3%) and significant (53.3% vs. 44.0%) improvement was significant higher in patients receiving combination therapy consisting of fractional CO2 laser plus topical hyaluronic acid as compared to fractional CO2 laser alone.   Conclusion Combining topical hyaluronic acid with fractional CO2 laser resulted in significantly better outcome as compared to conventional practice of fractional CO2 laser alone in patients with post-acne scars which advocates preferred use of this novel combination therapy in the management of such patients in future practice.   Key words Post-acne scars, Fractional CO2 laser, hyaluronic acid.