Patients with skin of color see fewer complications with shorter Nd:YAG laser duration

Key takeaways:

• Lasers are often underutilized in patients with skin of color due to pigmentary complications.
• Patients with skin of color treated with a 650 second pulsed nm Nd:YAG laser had no complications.

NEW ORLEANS — The 650 second pulsed 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser showed no signs of complications, including pigmentary issues, in individuals with skin of color, according to a poster presented at the Skin of Color Society Scientific Symposium.

“Due to the greater risk of pigmentary complications, as well as the lack of data in higher skin phototypes, lasers have generally been underutilized in patients with skin of color,” Michel Ntiri, BSc, a medical student at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences and research fellow at Weill Cornell Medicine, told Healio. “Traditional approaches to laser treatment have included the 1,064 Nd:YAG laser with a longer pulse duration in the millisecond range and epidermal cooling; however, a more novel approach to the use of laser in skin of color includes the same 1,064 wavelength with a shorter pulse duration in the second range.”

Ntiri and colleagues conducted a retrospective chart review of 39 patients (age range, 27-75 years; 35 women) with skin of color who were treated with the 650 second pulsed Nd:YAG laser for hirsutism, rosacea and pseudofolliculitis barbae.

Complication rates, tolerability and fluence were reviewed. All patients had Fitzpatrick skin types IV to VI.

The total number of facial treatment sessions was 205, while a total of 25 body sessions occurred in four patients.

Four patients reported pain during the treatment which resulted in a reduction of fluence; however, no patients discontinued treatment.

No burning, crusting, hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation complications were observed in any of the 39 patients. Three patients experienced erythema and follicular edema after treatment, but this did not result in discontinuation.

“Our conclusion suggests that the 650 second pulse 1064 Nd:YAG laser is indeed safe and well tolerated in patients with skin of color over a range of different indications with a 0% complication rate,” Ntiri told Healio.