Efficacy of fractional CO₂ laser in treatment of atrophic scar of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in Iran. Unfortunately, it can lead to unsightly atrophic scars with limited treatment options. Fractional CO₂ laser is accepted for treatment of atrophic acne scars and recently has been used to treat cutaneous leishmaniasis, so we planned to use fractional CO₂ laser on leishmaniasis scar. We conducted this study on 60 leishmaniasis scars on the face of 40 patients. The lesions were treated by a fractional CO₂ laser with beam size of 120 μm, with energy of 50–90 mJ, and 50–100 spots/cm² density with two passes in three monthly sessions. Evaluation was done in the first and second months after the first treatment and 3 and 6 months after the last treatment. Digital photography was performed at each visit. Assessment of improvement rate by patient and physician was rated separately as follows: no improvement (0 %), mild (<25 %), moderate (25–50 %), good (51–75 %), and excellent (76–100 %). Based on patients’ opinion, in the first and second follow-up, 48.3 and 90 % of them reported moderate to excellent healing, respectively (p < 0.001). In 3 and 6 months follow-up after the end of the experiment, most of the patients (88.3 and 95 %, respectively) reported moderate to excellent healing of scars. Based on two observers’ opinion, healing in the first follow-up in most of the patients (65 %) was mild to moderate and 33 % were reported as having no healing. In the second follow-up, only 5 % of the patients were reported with no healing and 60 % were reported as having moderate healing (p < 0.001). In 3 and 6 months follow-up, most of the patients (95 and 96.6 %) were reported as having moderate to excellent healing (p = <0.001). Our results underlined the high efficacy of fractional CO₂ laser for leishmaniasis scar. No significant adverse effects were noted.