The Safety of Laser Skin Resurfacing With the Microablative Carbon Dioxide Laser and Review of the Literature.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of adverse effects following laser skin resurfacing with the microablative carbon dioxide (CO2) laser system (SmartXide DOT; DEKA, Calenzano, Italy). METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed. Data was collected for DOT laser procedures performed at three clinical centers from 2008-2014. Results: Of the 1,081 DOT laser procedures, there were 13 complications (1.3% of all cases), which included eleven cases of prolonged erythema and two cases of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Of note, there were no cases of scarring. LIMITATIONS: This was a retrospective chart review. Data was collected from laser case logs. However, all patients with complications were evaluated clinically by a physician. CONCLUSION: Microablative fractional resurfacing with the DOT laser enables treatment of a diversity of skin conditions with short post-procedure recovery time and an extremely low incidence of adverse side effects. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(11):1157-1162.