Comparison of the Effectiveness of Nonablative Fractional Laser versus Pulsed-Dye Laser in Thyroidectomy Scar Prevention

BACKGROUND: The anterior neck is the site of open thyroidectomy and where postoperative scarring can cause distress to patients. Both fractional and pulsed-dye lasers are effective and safe methods for preventing and improving surgical scars. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the improvement in scar appearance with laser intervention during the wound healing process. We evaluated the effect of nonablative fractional and pulsed-dye lasers on fresh thyroidectomy scars. METHODS: Patients were treated 3 times at 4-week interval with a follow-up visit at the 6(th) month. Scars were divided into 2 halves for each optional treatment. At every visit, a questionnaire evaluating the scar and patient satisfaction was completed. RESULTS: Thirty patients completed the 6-month process. The mean Vancouver Scar Scale scores improved significantly from 8.0 to 4.6 and 8.2 to 4.7 with nonablative fractional and pulsed-dye lasers, respectively (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the 2 methods (p=0.840). CONCLUSION: There remains no consensus on the optimal treatment of scars. The present study indicates nonablative fractional and pulsed-dye lasers significantly improve scars. Nonablative fractional lasers are non-inferior to pulsed-dye lasers. Further studies are required to corroborate this finding.