Treatment of Mild to Severe Acne Vulgaris With a 650-Microsecond 1064-nm Nd:YAG Laser.

BACKGROUND

Effective treatment of acne remains a challenge to dermatologists.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of a 650-microsecond, pulsed 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser therapy for mild to severe facial acne vulgaris.

METHODS

Human subjects of Fitzpatrick skin types I to VI with mild, moderate, or severe acne enrolled in the prospective, single-center study. Subjects received 5 treatments at 2-week intervals with the 650-microsecond, 1064-nm, pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Follow-up visits were 30 days and 90 days after the final treatment. At each visit, subject global assessments, lesion counts, investigator's global assessments (IGAs), and tolerability appraisals were performed.

RESULTS

The median percent reduction in lesion count was 48.15% after 1 treatment and 83.72% at treatment 3 and remained at 86.67% at 90 days. Sixty percent of subjects noted improvement after treatment 1, and most subjects noticed improvement on or before treatment 3. Median IGA values decreased rapidly to reach a plateau of 1.0 (almost clear) at week 6 and remained there at the 30- and 90-day follow-up. Ninety percent of subjects were slightly to highly satisfied after 3 treatments, and 90% slightly to strongly agreed that their acne treatments improved their self-esteem after 4 treatments. Anesthesia or skin cooling were not used, and adverse events were not observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The 650-microsecond, pulsed 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser has been proven to deliver long-lasting clearance of mild to severe facial acne vulgaris with high subject satisfaction and without adverse effects on skin types I to VI. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23(11):957-964. doi:10.36849/JDD.8171.