Evaluation of the response of Fractional Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Laser and Punch Elevation Technique in Treatment of Acne Scars: A split-face comparative clinical, histopathological,and immunohistochemical study

Abstract

Acne is the most common skin disease affecting the vast majority of adolescents and young adults. It is one of the commonest dermatological problems encountered in the out-patient clinics of dermatology. Severe scarring is a serious complication of acne which associated with considerable psychological distress, poor self-esteem, depression, anxiety, body image alterations, embarrassment, anger, low academic performance, and even unemployment. Most treatment modalities can be grouped into the broad categories of lifting procedures and resurfacing procedures Lifting procedures raise the base of the scar closer to the normal skin surface level. Resurfacing procedures cause an injury to the epidermis and superficial dermis with resulting neocollagenesis and epidermal repair The punch elevation method is better for improving deep acne scars than depth resurfacing and it can be combined with depth resurfacing depending on the type of acne scar. Therefore, punch elevation techniques have increased the efficacy of treatment of atrophic acne scars. For the CO2 laser, the absorption of its wavelength (10,600 nm) in water is high. However, because the chromosphere