Utility and tolerability of the long-pulsed 1064-nm neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (LP Nd:YAG) laser for treatment of symptomatic or disfiguring vascular malformations in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Vascular malformations manifest with pain, bleeding, disability, and disfigurement in a subset of children. There are scant data available on the utility and tolerability of laser surgery for symptomatic or disfiguring non-port-wine stain vascular malformations in children.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the utility and tolerability of the 1064-nm long-pulsed neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet (LP Nd:YAG) laser for treatment of symptomatic or disfiguring vascular malformations in children.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 29 pediatric patients with non-port-wine stain vascular malformations who were treated with the LP Nd:YAG laser at our institution. We report patient characteristics, treatment parameters, outcomes, and complications.

RESULTS: Blinded assessment of clinical efficacy revealed good to excellent results in 66.7% of patients treated and poor to fair results in 25%. The overall rate of complications was 27%, with minor skin breakdown and blistering being the most common.

LIMITATIONS: Our conclusions are limited by small sample size, pretreatment and posttreatment photographs in only a subset of patients, and lack of long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSION: The LP Nd:YAG laser is a well-tolerated and effective treatment modality for a variety of non-port-wine stain vascular malformations in children.