Photobiomodulation effect on children’s scars

Abstract

The management of burn scars has become one of the major clinical challenges in the developing countries which involve enormous treatment cost; this needs new methods for better cost benefit relationship. The objective of the study is to analyze the effectiveness of low-level laser therapy on post-burn scar tissue in children. A randomized controlled study included 15 children, ranging from 2 to 10 years of age, presenting with burn scars. They received diode laser and topical treatment. Each scar was divided into two halves. One half was treated with laser therapy and topical treatment (study area), and the other half was treated with topical treatment only (control area). The children were evaluated before and after 3 months of the study by Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS), ultrasonography (U/S), and laser Doppler perfusion imaging. Significant improvement was reported in the studied area compared to the control area for patients with P values (P = 0.005) and (P = 0.0001) for VSS and U/S scores, respectively. No difference was detected for blood perfusion to the scar between both areas (P = 0.18). In addition, no adverse effect was reported. Photobiomodulation is an efficient and safe therapeutic modality for post-burn hypertrophic scars in children and should be considered a part of combination therapy for better results.

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