650 μs, pulsed 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser improves acne in diverse skin types

Key takeaways:

• 90% of patients reported slight to high satisfaction in the treatment after the third round.
• After four treatments, 90% of patients slightly to strongly agreed that the treatment improved their self-esteem.

The 650 s, pulsed 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser delivered long-term improvement in diverse skin types with mild to severe acne vulgaris without causing adverse events, according to a study.

“Acne affects approximately 50 million people in the U.S.,” Nazanin Saedi, MD, a dermatologist and department co-chair of the Laser and Aesthetics Surgery Center at Dermatology Associates of Plymouth Meeting and clinical associate professor at Thomas Jefferson University, and colleagues wrote. “Therapies include retinoids, antibiotics, hormones, lights, lasers and various combinations of these modalities.”

In this study, the authors evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of a 650 s, pulsed 1,064 nm Nd:YAG laser for the treatment of patients with mild to severe facial acne vulgaris.

A total of 23 patients (mean age, 29.4 years; women, n = 20) with diverse skin tones received five laser treatments at 2-week intervals without topical anesthetic followed by evaluations 30 days and 90 days after the final treatment.

Results showed a 48.15% median reduction in lesion count from baseline after one treatment which increased to 83.72% after the third treatment. At the 90-day follow-up, investigators saw an 86.67% median improvement in lesion count.

The majority of patients (60%) reported noticeable improvement after the first treatment and nearly all (95%) saw improvement after the second treatment.

The median IGA score, which was 3 at baseline, dropped to 1, or almost clear, at week 6 and remained at 1 until the final follow-up.

Ninety percent of patients reported slight to high satisfaction in the treatment after the third round. After four treatments, 90% of patients slightly to strongly agreed that the treatment improved their self-esteem.

According to the study, anesthesia and skin cooling methods were not used during the procedure and the investigators did not observe any adverse events.

“The results show that clinically meaningful results in acne lesion counts, subjective improvement, IGA values, satisfaction with treatment and self-esteem are obtained for subjects with a wide range of skin types in three to five treatments with the 650 s, pulsed 1,064 nm pulsed Nd:YAG laser,” the authors concluded.