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.