The Effect of C02 
Laser Operation in Dermatology

Keimyung Medical Journal 1999;18(1):11-21.

The Effect of C02 Laser Operation in Dermatology

피부과 영역에서의 CO2 레이저 수술의 활용

박준형; 김창욱; 류영욱; 김병천; 이규석; 송준영

Abstract

PURPOSE : CO2 laser emits energy in the mid portion of the infrared spectrum at a wavelength of 10;600nm. The CO2 laser is the workhorse laser in the treatment of cutaneous disease. With water as the chromophore (light-absorbing compound); CO2 laser light is highly absorbed in biologic tissue in which water comprises between 75-90%. The CO2 laser is superficially absorbed by tissue water; with little scatter; limiting penetration into the skin to less than 0.1 mm. The beam can be deliverd with a large spot size by using silk touch™-computerized scanner and with little thermal damage to the tissues by using superpulsed mode recently. The purpose of this study is toevaluate the variety of cuta-neous diseases treated by CO2 laser and the therapeutic effects of the CO2 laser on various skin diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS : 459 cases of various skin diseases treated by CO2 laser between 1996 and 1998 were subjected to detailed analysis. The CO2 laser is candela laser system (U.S.A) Model 20C. The laser produces power output that ranges from 0 to 30 W of continous wave and from 0.5 to 7.0 W of superpulsed mode. The effectiveness of treatment was measured into 4 groups-excellent; good; fair; poor by estimating the clinical improvement with initial image of photograph.
RESULTS
: 1. In 459 cases of various skin diseases treated by CO2 laser the case of pigmented nevus (118); wart (80); lentigo (65) and acne scar(42) comprise the large portion of patient compositon. 2. The excellent and good response above 50% of patient was observed in mostof the cutaneous diseases. Especially in pigmented nevus; wart; acne scar and xanthelasma palpebrum the excellent and good response was observed above 90% of patient. CONCLUSION : The CO2 laser is actually used in treatment for wide ranges of cutaneous disorders such as pigmented nevus; wart; acne scar and lentigo even including basal cell carcinoma and hailey-hailey disease. The CO2 laser with silk touch?and superpulse mode is a very effective modality for the various skin disorders such as pigmented nevus; wart; acne scar and lentigo.

Key Words: CO₂ laser, Superpulsed, Silk touch