Wound Healing Effects of Low-Power Laser and Hydrocellular Dressing

Herh, Jae Young; Hwang, So Min; Kim, Jong Hyun; Lee, Jin; Bae, Yong Chan; Kim, Hae Kyu

Abstract

There are many methods known to improve the effect of wound healing. Among them, low-power laser light have been used on the basis that it cause increase of new capillary formation, fibroblast, collagen synthesis, and blood flow. But there are some controversies, so the authors tried to prove the efficacy of low-power laser for wound healing on donor sites of skin graft. Performing this study, we also used hydrocelulla dressingr(Allevyn(R)), which is known to accelerate wound healing via providing a clean moist environment with its high absorption capacity, to compare the efficacy with that of low-power laser. We evaluated the wound healing results of fifty patients who underwent split-thickness skin graft for various reasons in Pusan National University Hospital from July 2000 to March 2001. Donor site wounds were formularized with the extent of 7 x 10cm2 width and 13/1000 inch depth on patients' thigh for accurate collection of data. Fifty patients were divided into five groups(n = 10 in each group) according to the method of treatment; Group I: hydrocellular drssing only, Group II: hydrocellular dressing and He-Ne laser, Group III: hydrocellular dressing, He-Ne and infrared (IR) laser, Group IV: hydrocellular dressing, He-Ne, infrared, and CO2 laser, and Group V: adaptive gauze dressing as a conventional method. All groups excluding group V were treated every other day. In laser treated groups, donor site wounds were subjected to irradiation with 500 Hz and 1 J/cm2. In assessing the efficacy of each treatmnet, time for complete epithelialization was assessed in all groups and all groups except for group V were examined every other day by questioning the patients about degree of pain according to the visual analogue pain scale(VAS) and calculated VAS improvement rate after treatment. As a result, laser treated groups(II, III and IV) were superior to hydroclullar dressing treated group(I), although the latter was more effective than the conventional group(V), in aspects of wound healing and pain relief. In conclusion, although hydrocellular dressing promotes wound healing in some aspects, low-power laser was more effective in wound healing and pain relief especially on donor site wounds after partial-thickness skin graft. We think that these low-power lasers with or without hydrocellualr dressing will be helpful in various fields of wound treatment as an adjunctive method.