The Use of Locally Applied Vibration to Minimize Pain during Fractional COâ‚‚ Laser Therapy in Living Liver-Donor Scar Management

Song, Sinyoung; Choi, Dong Hoon; Oh, Tae Suk

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Fractional COâ‚‚ laser is an effective treatment for scars, but most patients complain about sharp burning pain, even after the application of lidocaine ointment. This study analyzed the impact of a vibrating device to nonpharmacologically reduce the acute pain of laser treatment, in accordance with the gate control theory of pain management.
METHODS
This is a prospective study performed from May 2013 through March 2014. Fifty-three patients (mean age, 26.7 years; range, 16-44 years) who had donated livers for liver transplantation were treated with a fractional CO2 laser (10,600 nm; model eCOâ‚‚, Lutronic Corp) for their abdomen scars. Laser treatment was applied 4 months after surgery. A commercially available, locally applied vibrating device (model UM-30M, Unix Electronics Co. Ltd.) was used, in an on-and-off pattern, together with the CO2 laser. A visual analogue scale (VAS; 0, no pain; 10, most severe pain) of pain sensation was assessed and statistically analyzed using a paired t-test.
RESULTS
The average VAS score for pain with the vibrating device was 4.60 and the average VAS score without the vibrating device was 6.11. The average difference between scores was 1.51 (P=0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
A locally applied vibrating device was demonstrated to be effective in reducing pain when treating with a fractional COâ‚‚ laser. Vibration treatment could be helpful when treating scars with fractional COâ‚‚ laser in pain-sensitive patients, particularly children.