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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2012; 39(02): 143-149
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2012.39.2.143
Original Article

Treatment of Axillary Osmidrosis Using a Subcutaneous Pulsed Nd-YAG Laser

Daejin Kim
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
,
Junhyung Kim
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
,
Hyeonjung Yeo
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
,
Hyukjun Kwon
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
,
Daegu Son
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
,
Kihwan Han
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
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Background Axillary osmidrosis is characterized by an unpleasant odor, profuse sweating, and in some instances, staining of clothes that may socially and psychologically impair affected individuals. Various types of surgical procedures have been developed for the treatment of axillary osmidrosis. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of subcutaneous pulsed neodymium: yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd-YAG) laser treatment for the treatment of axillary osmidrosis.

Methods Twenty-nine patients with axillary osmidrosis were included in this study. Patients were categorized according to the results of an axillary malodor grading system, and a subcutaneous pulsed Nd-YAG laser was applied to all patients. The treatment area for the appropriate distribution of laser energy was determined using the iodine starch test (Minor's test) against a grid pattern composed of 2×2 cm squares. The endpoint of exposure was 300 to 500 J for each grid, depending on the preoperative evaluation results. The results were evaluated by measurement of axillary malodor both pre- and postoperatively using the grading system and iodine starch test.

Results The average follow-up period was 12.8 months. Nineteen patients had a fair-to-good result and ten patients had poor results. The postoperative Minor's test demonstrated that there were remarkable improvements for patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Complications including superficial second degree burns (n=3) were treated in a conservative manner. A deep second degree burn (n=1) was treated by a surgical procedure.

Conclusions Subcutaneous pulsed Nd-YAG laser has many advantages and is an effective noninvasive treatment for mild to moderate axillary osmidrosis.

Keywords

Lasers - Axilla - Starch


Publication History

Received: 21 December 2011

Accepted: 22 February 2012

Article published online:
24 April 2022

© 2012. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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